Editing Edamame (section)

==History==
Soybeans were first cultivated in China some 7000 years ago, while the earliest documented reference to the term "edamame" dates from the year 1275, when the Japanese monk [[Nichiren]] wrote a note thanking a parishioner for the gift of "edamame" he had left at the temple.<ref name="soyinfocenter.com">[http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/133 History of Edamame, Green Vegetable Soybeans, and Vegetable-Type Soybeans (1275–2009)].</ref>
In 1406, during the [[Ming dynasty]] in China, the leaves of the soybeans were eaten and during outbreaks of famine; it was recommended that citizens eat the beans whole or use them ground up and added to flour. Centuries later, in China, in 1620, they are referred to again, but as ''maodou'', which translates to the term "hairy bean". They are found in the records of the Runan vegetable gardens, where they are stated as having a medicinal purpose, as well as being a snack food.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Edamame appeared in [[haikai]] verse in Japanese in the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868), with one example as early as 1638.<ref name="kokugo">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Nihon Kokugo Daijiten |title=枝豆 |trans-title=Edamame |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-06-06 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=ja |oclc=56431036 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=2007-08-25 }}</ref>
[[File:Edamame by Augapfel.jpg|thumb|A plate of boiled edamame]]
They were first recognized in the United States in 1855, when a farmer commented on the difficulties he had shelling them after harvest. In March 1923, the immature soybean is first referred to in text in the United States in the book "The Soybean" by C. V. Piper and Joseph W. Morse. In this book, they are first pictured and shown as being eaten out of open shell pods. The first nutritional facts about them are published and some recipes are included, as they were a new type of vegetable to the public.<ref name="soyinfocenter.com"/> The earliest recorded usage in English of the word ''edamame'' is in 1951 in the journal ''Folklore Studies''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Oxford English dictionary | title = Edamame, n. | url = http://www.oed.com | access-date = June 6, 2012 | edition = 3rd |date=March 2012 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford, England | lccn = 2002565560 | oclc = 357047940}}</ref> 

Writing in the ''[[New York Times]]'' in 1999, food writer [[Florence Fabricant]] reported that frozen edamame beans were starting to be sold in supermarkets and speciality food retailers in New York and New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news | last =Fabricante | first =Florence | title =Salted Soybean Pods Seek a Niche in the Home | newspaper =[[New York Times]] | location = | pages = | language = | publisher = | date =January 27, 1999 | url =https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/27/dining/food-stuff.html?searchResultPosition=4 | accessdate =September 20, 2024 }}</ref> ''Edamame'' appeared as a new term in the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] in 2003 and in the [[Merriam-Webster]] dictionary in 2008.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Jōhō chishiki imidas |title=Edamame |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=June 6, 2012 |language=ja |year=2012 |publisher=Shūeisha |location=Tōkyō |oclc=297351993 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=August 25, 2007 }}</ref>

In 2008, the first soybeans grown in Europe were sold in grocery stores as edamame and eaten as an alternative source of protein.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Prince |first1=Rose |title=British grown edamame beans arrive in supermarkets |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/4030778/British-grown-edamame-beans-arrive-in-supermarkets.html |website=The Telegraph |date=31 December 2008 |access-date=2015-05-07}}</ref>