Chilled Edamame Pureed Soup (枝豆のすり流し, Edamame no Surinagashi)

Edamame is sweetest when the pods are full and the heat has settled over the day. This soup belongs there, cool and quiet, a small bowl at the beginning of a summer meal. It looks delicate enough to make people nervous. Good. Nervous cooks pay attention, and attention is most of this dish.

Surinagashi means something ground and poured. The method is plain: blanch the beans, pound them smooth, and loosen them with cold dashi until the texture falls from the spoon like light cream. The first secret is not the pounding, though your arm may disagree. It is keeping the edamame bright and sweet: salt the blanching water, cook only until tender, then chill the beans quickly so the color and freshness stay awake.

Use ichiban dashi, the first stock, because there is nowhere for a tired broth to hide here. Konbu gives breadth, katsuobushi gives lift, and neither should shout over the beans. Season with salt and a little usukuchi, light soy sauce, just enough to make the sweetness clear. Serve it cold in a small bowl and leave it room. A soup this restrained should arrive like a pause, not an announcement.