Food Waste Free Recipes

Iron Skillet Charred Edamame with Chile Seed Salt

  • Yield: 6 servings
Scraps used: Chile pepper seeds and membranes; scallion tops and roots.

Why: Most of the fire that chile packs is in the seeds, which is why they’re often scraped out in the cooking process. If you save them, they make a powerful cost-free seasoning that you can use when you want to up the heat. Here, they’re crushed into a spicy flavored salt. If you crush them well, the salt becomes saturated with spice and no one will get a hot pepper surprise by biting into a whole seed.

The Salt: The nuanced character of Morton® Coarse Sea Salt adds dimension to the spicy flavor of the seasoning in this dish. The coarse salt helps to bruise the chile seeds and release their aroma and spice.

Ingredients

  • Seeds from 2 serrano peppers or jalapeños
  • 1 teaspoon Morton® Coarse Sea Salt
  • A grating of black pepper
  • 1 pound Frozen edamame in their pods, thawed
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 untrimmed scallions (roots, bulbs and greens, everything), sliced thin

MORTON®
COARSE SEA SALT

  1. Make the chile seed salt: In a mortar and pestle or a small bowl with a small spoon, mash chile seeds and salt until the salt mixture looks moist and the chile seeds appear to be crushed. Add the black pepper and set aside.

  2. Cook the edamame: Blot the thawed edamame with paper towels and toss with the sesame oil. Heat a large wok or cast-iron skillet over high heat until smoking hot (open windows or turn on vents, as this recipe has a high smoke-point). Add the edamame and spread out. Wait 20 seconds, then toss—some edamame should have charred spots on them—and spread out again. Keep doing this until the edamame are gorgeously-charred and steamy, about 5 minutes. Toss with the scallions and salt.

  3. Serve: Let cool a few minutes and serve with a side bowl for the pods. Eat by popping the beans out of the pods into your mouth.

 You can also cook the edamame on a grill screen over a high, direct fire.