Let's Use Soybeans

In Short

This instructional booklet from the University of Illinois Extension Service serves as a definitive resource for incorporating soybeans into a household diet. Produced during a period of food rationing, it functions as both a nutritional primer and a cookbook. It provides technical guidance on selecting soybean varieties, preserving green beans, sprouting mature seeds, and milling flours. By offering precise recipes—ranging from bread and rolls to croquettes and cookies—it transforms a utilitarian legume into a versatile staple, documenting a significant moment in the evolution of American domestic science.

The Story

The narrative begins with a clear, pragmatic motivation: the necessity of replacing protein-rich foods that have become scarce due to wartime rationing. The text opens by establishing the soybean as an ideal candidate for this task, emphasizing its high caloric density, superior protein quality, and essential mineral content. It immediately addresses the reader's potential skepticism by distinguishing between "field" types and the more palatable "vegetable" or "edible" varieties, such as the Hokkaido or Imperial, ensuring that the cook starts with appropriate ingredients.

As the argument unfolds, the text moves from the garden to the pantry. It details the specific preparation required for green soybeans, treating them as a seasonal vegetable—similar to lima beans or peas—that can be harvested in late summer. The preservation section acts as a technical bridge, addressing the complexities of freezing, canning, and dehydrating. This segment provides rigorous standards for safety and quality, recommending pressure cooker times and specific dehydration temperatures to ensure that the harvest remains usable throughout the year.

The focus then shifts to the dry soybean, a more durable but challenging ingredient. The text introduces the reader to the patience required for soaking and cooking these legumes, noting their characteristically "nutty" texture. It expands the culinary repertoire through unconventional techniques like sprouting, which transforms dry seeds into a fresh vegetable in under a week, provided the cook exercises care against mold and light exposure.

The final movement of the text is a creative exploration of the soybean’s versatility. It moves beyond simple preparation into the realm of complex cookery, demonstrating how soybean pulp can act as a meat extender in loaves and croquettes, or how it can provide bulk and moisture to baked goods like drop cookies. The manual concludes with a detailed look at soybean flour, a product touted for its ability to enhance the browning and shelf life of breads and cakes. By providing specific ratios for mixing soy flour with wheat flour, the text empowers the home cook to experiment with percentages, ultimately presenting the soybean not merely as a temporary ration substitute, but as a sophisticated, permanent addition to the pantry.

How It Unfolds

The nutritional case The text establishes the soybean as a superior source of protein, calcium, and iron while noting its unique status as a "diabetic food" due to its low starch content. It carefully qualifies this claim by reminding the reader that soybeans still contain utilizable carbohydrates, distinguishing them from other legumes.

The preparation of green beans The guide provides a step-by-step method for harvesting and hulling immature beans, emphasizing a brief boiling process to maintain a bright green color. It treats the bean as a fresh, seasonal vegetable that can be enjoyed simply with butter or used in place of garden peas.

Preservation techniques This section details the specific requirements for canning, freezing, and dehydrating the harvest to ensure year-round availability. It relies on rigorous safety standards, such as pressure cooker timing, to address the variability in opinion regarding the flavor of preserved soybeans.

Cooking with dry beans The text details methods for soaking and simmering dry soybeans, as well as roasting them for use as a snack similar to salted peanuts. It explores the labor-intensive but rewarding process of sprouting, which offers a fresh, vegetable-like experience from a dried seed.

Culinary innovation The final beats focus on integrating soybean pulp into savory main courses like loaves and croquettes. It concludes by exploring the technical aspects of blending soybean flour with wheat flour, offering recipes for yeast bread, cakes, and cookies that leverage the ingredient's unique chemical properties.

The People

The central figure is the "homemaker," an individual tasked with the responsibility of managing the household larder during a time of extreme scarcity. She is depicted as someone who is resourceful, attentive to detail, and willing to embrace new, unfamiliar ingredients. The obstacles she faces—rationing, the need for high-quality nutrition, and the technical challenges of working with a legume that lacks the gluten found in traditional wheat flour—are met with a methodical, scientific approach.

Guided by the expertise of the University of Illinois Department of Home Economics, the homemaker undergoes a transformation from a traditional cook into a culinary experimenter. She moves from simple boiling to more complex tasks, such as managing the acidity in tomato-based croquettes or balancing the moisture in soybean loaf mixtures. The "authorities" cited throughout the text—ranging from the U.S.D.A. to local instructors like Evelyn Chambers Faulkner—serve as mentors, providing the technical framework that allows the homemaker to navigate the transition toward soy-based nutrition. By the end, the reader sees a figure who has moved past the initial limitations of her pantry, now possessing the knowledge to bake bread, manage sprouts, and optimize the nutritional profile of her family’s meals.

In Its Own Voice

"Soybeans and soybean products are receiving increased attention at the present time when the rationing of many of the protein-rich foods of animal origin has made us aware of the possibility of insufficient protein in our dietaries."

This opening statement highlights the book’s primary motivation as a response to wartime food shortages.

"Soybean products are sometimes called 'diabetic foods' because they contain no starch."

This context explains the unique nutritional profile of the soybean, which distinguishes it from other beans and grains.

"To make hulling easier, pour boiling water over the soybean pods and let them stand 5 minutes in the hot water."

This practical tip demonstrates the book’s focus on streamlining the labor-intensive process of preparing green soybeans for the table.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is about the adaptability of human systems in the face of crisis. It argues that scarcity does not require a decline in the quality of nutrition; rather, it demands a change in technical knowledge and culinary habit. The underlying question is how to bridge the gap between an unfamiliar agricultural product—the soybean—and the traditional American kitchen. The text addresses this by demystifying the ingredient, treating it with the same respect as a wheat harvest or a garden crop. It posits that through careful preparation and technical rigor, a "substitute" ingredient can become a reliable, superior staple. It is a quiet testament to the idea that knowledge can replace lack, and that even the most modest bean can be elevated through science and technique.

Why Read It Today

Readers with an interest in food history or the evolution of domestic science will find this a fascinating document. It captures a specific, high-stakes moment in American life where the kitchen became a laboratory and the pantry a strategic asset. To read it is to step into a world of earnest, methodical problem-solving, where the tone is consistently warm, encouraging, and resolutely practical.

The writing is stripped of modern marketing; it does not promise a "superfood" miracle, but rather offers the honest, granular labor of feeding a family well during lean times. It is a stark reminder of the realities of 1940s life, where even the process of sprouting beans required careful monitoring of sunlight and chlorinated water to succeed. Modern readers might find the instructions for canning or the emphasis on "meat extenders" to be relics of a different era, but the fundamental focus on nutritional density and ingredient versatility remains entirely relevant. It is a beautiful, precise manual that respects the reader's intelligence, offering a glimpse into a time when the ingenuity of the home cook was a vital component of national resilience. Those who appreciate the tactile, sensory details of 20th-century cooking will find much to admire in these clear, authoritative pages.