According to >:
>I found this to be interesting as all of the dried soybeans I have seen
>are small, beige pellets. Once soaked they remain beige( I've had black
>ones from a can )and are not similar to edamme.
>
>Is edamme a differnt variety of soy bean then what is sold dried?

I was at the veggie show thing at Wembley this weekend (which, incidentally,
was awful - too many people, too many queues! There looked like there were
some good samples on offer, but you couldn't get near them without waiting
for half an hour) and someone had an edamame stall, and from the blurb on
and around it, they seem to be the less developed bean than what you are
probably used to.

In fact, from edamame.com:

what's edamame?

Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean,
harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the
"hardening" time. The word Edamame means "Beans on Branches," and it
grows in clusters on bushy branches. To retain the freshness and its
natural flavor, it is parboiled and quick-frozen. In East Asia, the
soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of
protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in
soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly
boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from
the pods into the mouth with the fingers.

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