Made by a mom.

Hi, my name is Eda. I’m a single mom, a television culinary producer, and the daughter of a Thai restaurant family. Food has never been just a job for me. It’s where I come from.

I grew up in my family’s Thai restaurant. It was one of the first Thai restaurants in Chicago, and I was the lone server. By the end of the year, our little restaurant was named one of the Top Ten restaurants in Chicago.

From the set to the stove

For years I worked as a culinary producer in television, building and styling food for the camera, developing recipes, and making sure everything that reached the plate looked as good as it tasted. I loved it. At the same time I was working, I had to feed my son. I made a promise that we would not eat fast food, and going to restaurants wasn’t feasible too often.

A documentary, and a license to cook

I directed a documentary about home restaurants and the fight to legalize them — cooks feeding their neighbors from their own kitchens. That journey led me to becoming a licensed MEHKO (Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation). It’s a way for home cooks like me to legally and safely sell the food we make at home. For me, it closed the circle: the restaurant kitchen I grew up in, reimagined as my own.

Who this is for

Edamame Eats is for working families who want real, comforting meals without the weeknight scramble — the dishes everyone actually asks for, ready to heat and share.

And it’s for women 40 and over like me. Somewhere in our forties, our bodies start asking for a little more care — more calcium and omega-3s, steadier energy, gentler ingredients. So many of our favorites are quietly built to help with exactly that, from hormone-supportive miso to omega-rich salmon and bone-strengthening greens. You’ll see them marked 🔥 Hot Flash Cook on the menu. Think of them as a treat that happens to love you back.

That mark comes from my companion site, hotflashcook.com — a place I built for meal planning and recipes that help with the symptoms of menopause and midlife. The dishes I bring to Edamame Eats are drawn from that same philosophy: real comfort food that happens to be good for you.

A living menu

Because I cook with what’s fresh, the menu changes. I add and rotate dishes based on what’s in season and locally available — and, honestly, on what you love most. So if a favorite isn’t here one week, it’s likely coming back around soon, alongside something new worth trying.