Legume
Soybean
Soybean is the most industrially important legume, eaten as whole beans, green edamame, sprouts, milk, curd (tofu), fermented products (tempeh, miso, natto, soy sauce), and oilseed. Flavour ranges from green and grassy when fresh to nutty when roasted or fermented. Food-grade yellow soybeans dominate; black soybeans feature in East Asian braises. Edamame is simply the immature green pod and seed stage of the same plant.
Also known as: Huang dou / Dadou, Daizu / Edamame, Kong
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History
Soybeans were domesticated in East Asia and became foundational to Chinese protein cookery.
Japanese fermentation traditions developed miso, soy sauce, natto, and tofu from soy.
American industrial agriculture scaled soy as oilseed and animal feed, later expanding food uses.
Global tofu, soy milk, and sauce industries made soybean products everyday worldwide ingredients.