Fava beans, grilled and boiled 焼きそら豆、茹でそら豆

We love the Asakusa 浅草 area of Tokyo. On one of our visits to Asakusa long ago, we stumbled into a small izakaya run by a husband and wife team. Beside ourselves, there were only two other customers at the counter--a past-middle-aged couple, clearly not husband and wife, but having fun talking, eating and drinking. It happened to be fava bean season or "sora-mame" そら豆. They ordered up a dish of the beans. We overheard (no not overheard that implies we were intruding, they were actually over talking) about how good the beans were. We had never seen them before and asked what they were. They generously offered us a taste. We agreed with their assessment and promptly order a dish for ourselves. It was indeed very good. Sora-mame is quintessential Izakaya food usually served simply boiled with a side of salt.

In the U.S., the easiest way to get fava beans is to buy a package of frozen sora-mame in a Japanese grocery store. They are not bad but usually a bit too mushy. Occasionally, while in season, we can get fresh fava beans in a pod from a near-by gourmet market. To choose which pods to buy, I press the pods between my fingers lightly to make sure there are beans inside. Some pods may look big and luxurious from outside but may not contain many beans.

I tried making them both grilled in the pod (in a toaster oven on "high" broil for 10 minutes turning once until the surface of the pods develops blotches of brown) and boiled (beans removed from the pods and boiled for 5 minutes in salted water). To us, there is no big difference in taste and consistency but we have not yet tried grilling fava beans in the pod on a charcoal fire, which may make a difference.

We like to peel the skin from the beans just before eating (the quintessential finger food) (see image on the left) and eat it with just a touch of salt (literally, we use Kosher salt with larger crystals).

Digression alert: Fava beans contain several pharmacologically active substances which may have some health effects on people with certain conditions. The most famous is "favism" in which an individual with the genetically inherited enzyme difficiency (G6PD deficiency) can have serious hemolytic anemia after consuming fava beans. Another is the interaction of the ingredients in fava beans with MAO-inhibitors. Among people taking  MAO-inhibitors (probably to treat depression), eating fava beans (or certain aged cheeses) may produce a hypertensive episode called "cheese effect". Fava beans also contain L-dopa, (a substance used to treat Parkinson's) although the health effects of the L-dopa found in fava beans may not be significant. So, before you order up "sora-mame", make sure you do not have G6PD deficiency or you are not taking a MAO-inhibitor. Consuming a large amount of "sora-mame" at Izakaya in an attempt to treat your Parkinson's disease is also not recommended. Please seek the professional advice of an appropriate specialist.

Fortunately, we do not have any of these restrictions and simply enjoy "sora-mame". It will go with any drink but sake is the best match for us.