A cold winter weekend in Chicago, the snow trickles down in a blustery gale through the streets of Lakeview. The sun retreating westward at an ever earlier hour, leaving nothing but the streetlights lining Halsted to light your way. As the cold city winds beat against your reddened face you consider turning back and heading home. This thought of surrender is quickly plucked from your mind as you remember that you are on a mission. A mission for Edamame! You soldier on through the forces of nature until finally, you arrive at the corner of Belmont to find your party waiting for you in front of a hip urban Ramen restaurant. Furious Spoon.

Entering Furious Spoon, you notice that this place has an ambiance that is in your face! Old school hip-hop shakes your eardrums as you’re enthralled by the graffiti stained brick walls behind a long wooden bar that stretches to the back of the room. Your host waves you over and tells you to sit wherever you are comfortable. The choices being the aforementioned bar, a long window-facing counter-top peering out eastward onto Halsted Street, or a few large wooden tables running down the middle of the restaurant. Perfect. Your party decides to claim one of the tables in the central area of the restaurant. You nearly throw your back out pulling out one of the bar stools that weigh no less than 100 pounds each. But, no pain no gain they say, and here we are looking to gain some sweet Edamame. However, you quickly notice that Edamame isn’t the only thing on the menu here!

The menu that your waiter sets in front of you isn’t very intimidating, a simple single-sided laminated page lists only three types of dish here. First at the top is the starters, some things that stand out are the dumplings, the Japanese lettuce wraps, and, you guessed it: Edamame! Center stage on this menu is the five different kinds of Ramen. A veggie option for anyone not interested in meat, a spicy Dynamo Shrimp option for the thrill seekers, and their namesake “The Furious” just to name a few. Further down the menu you see some rice bowls in case you are looking for something a bit lighter that won’t sit as heavy as a bowl of Ramen.

The waiter approaches your table to take your order. The party is hungry tonight and this will be no small order. After your companions hurl a flurry of drink, appetizer and course selections at the employee it comes to your turn. “I would like to start with a Kirin Ichiban to drink, and one of the veggie rice bowls with some added grilled mushrooms please.” Your server then informs you that they are all out of marinated mushrooms at the moment, “Perhaps you would like to add the Pickled Shimeji Mushrooms instead?” gross. “Nah, I’m not a big fan of pickle. The only thing worse than pickle is cucumber.” you chime in. “Let’s just go with the fried tofu instead please!” “And sir? Can we also get a bowl of Edamame for the table please?” There it is. The order has been placed. The server is off. Now all that’s left to do is wait for the soybeans to hit the table!

Your party babbles on with each other about general chit-chat, current events, politics… but there is only one thing on your mind and no amount of conversation, no matter how engaging can shake your mind from the goal at hand. The Edamame. And suddenly, there he is, like a golden angel sent down by the gods themselves, your server makes his triumphant return to your table. Bearing a tray filled with drinks, appetizers and of course the Edamame. Though, with a bit of observation you quickly notice that this is no ordinary Edamame. For this, is Togarashi Spice Edamame! 

Just taking a quick whiff of this Edamame tells you all you need to know about it, it is SPICY. After bugging your friends to take several pictures for your ridiculous food blog, you are now ready to dig in. Not soon enough either, you ready your now salivating taste buds to journey with you on this presumably spice filled ride. And it hits you, that first bite into the succulent pod, and out pops the first bean into your mouth, but with it comes something else, some spice from the shell. And what a spice it is, the togarashi spice in fact adds a whole new depth to the dish that you previously thought impossible. The peppery but somewhat fruity kick of the 7 ingredient jumble has you quickly reaching for your drink between pods in order to douse the fire coming from your mouth. Once you finally get past the game-changing spice you realize that this Edamame stands up on it’s own without simply relying on flavor. Each pod is cooked to that perfect tender but firm consistency, no pods pre-cracked, no loose beans at the bottom of the bowl. Perfection! 

Lost in the bowl of spicy soybean delight, suddenly you are caught off-guard. The main course has arrived. You look up from your bowl to the inquisitive faces of your dinner party who have apparently been trying to talk to you for the last three minutes while you were captivated in your mess of soybean and spices. Never mind them, you move onto your main course, The veggie rice bowl. Filled with Cabbage, Carrots, green beans, shallots, tofu and a poached egg, this bowl was hearty and easy to stomach. The poached egg and ponzu sauce add a bit of thickness that hold the ingredients together well. As you notice your party slurping down the last remains of their Ramen and realize this dining adventure is coming to an end your mind races back to the Edamame with only a few pods still left out you quickly engorge yourself on these last remnants of what was one of the best bowls of Edamame you have ever tasted. In a total all-star move, one of your most trusted party members, Branden, reaches for the check and offers to pay for the meal. A true Edamame MVP. With the bill paid for and the Edamame depleted, you gather your things and head back out into the cold tundra-esque lands of the windy city and begin your journey home. A return journey that is a little warmer thanks to the spicy-hot bowl of Edamame that will be forever in your mind.

Furious spoon gets a triple pod rating on Edamamaster.com and is hereby known as the spiciest Edamame in Chicago!