Chilled Edamame Soup

A search of chilled soups comes up with mostly Spanish options.  Nothing wrong with that, but I've made most of them at some point.  I'm saving the pea ones for the next time I grow some.  That left this interesting option from Food & Wine with a Japanese feel.

Being F&W, this got a little uppity and pricey for a soup.  There is apparently a reason I never buy crème fraîche.  If it isn't in your budget, you can sub sour cream or Greek yogurt.  For vegan, use coconut cream (and vegetable broth).  It's just a garnish.

That said, the actual process of making this soup is very simple.  Not many ingredients, only one thing to chop, and the blender does most of the work.  It does need to be done with plenty of time to simmer then chill, as do most cold soups.  You can't get around that.

1 Tb unsalted butter
1 med onion, finely chopped
1 qt unsalted chicken stock
2 C frozen shelled edamame (about 10 oz)
1/4 C crème fraîche
*2 tsp grated fresh ginger
kosher salt to taste

1.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Add chopped onion and cook over medium-low until softened, about 7 minutes.  Add stock and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

2.  Stir in edamame and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.  Purée in blender in batches until smooth.  Chill at least 3 hours.

3.  Taste chilled soup and salt as needed.  It's going to go from bland to salty very fast, and will depend on the brands of stock and beans you used.  That's why you didn't salt while cooking.  Chilling changes the balance.  I used maybe 1/2 tsp for the whole batch, but I don't use much salt in general.

4.  In a separate bowl, whisk together crème fraîche and ginger until smooth.  Ladle soup into bowls and top with dollops of the ginger cream.  Serve very cold.

Difficulty rating  π