Pea Shoot Recipes Please
 

We went to the city the other day to see a ballgame and the next day we had to go to our favorite Chinese market. I bought all kinds of goodies, including fresh pea shoots. I bought a huge bag, so I'd better get busy cooking them. Does anyone have a good recipe for using pea shoots? Thanks.

~ C

The way they are usually prepared in Southwest China is the following:

Wash them and clip off the little curly bits with your fingers. Heat up a wok with some oil in it. Fry some chopped garlic (and if you like it spicy, some dried chilis) in the hot oil for just a minute or so before you add the pea shoots. Sprinkle some salt over it (or use chicken broth powder). Stir quickly on good heat for just a couple of minutes (until the pea shoots start to get soft - but you don't want to cook them mushy!). Serve and enjoy!

The other common way to serve them in China is in a soup (= broth) with tofu cubes. But I personally like them better fried!

I wash them,cut off tough end. Then fry some bacon,onion and garlic. Put the pods in with the bacon and veggies. Cover till tender stir occasionally. Just before serving I add a sprinkle of soy sauce and stir and serve. Just made some Friday. Good luck.

I just eat them raw. Usually in a salad. I have also stir fried them but they are very easy to over cook.

If you use them in a soup, I would drop them in the serving bowl. They are so delicate they basically only need to threatened by heat.

BTW, I'm not sure what the other posters are referring to when they said to remove the curly bits or tough parts or pods. Pea shoots have none of the above. Perhaps they are confusing them with chinese pea pods??.

I thought she meant pea pods like snow peas.

No idea how to say it correctly, but this is the vegetable I'm referring to:

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The Chinese lady who taught me how to cook them told me to remove those curly bits (and also the tough parts of the stems, as one of the other posters mentions).

Looks like pes pods to me. Sorry if I'm wrong.

Looks like the pea vines to me. I never knew you could eat that part,,I just used the pea pods..used to raise sugsr snaps, but they have to be started so early to mature before hot temps kill the vines.

Sorry, I think that my post might be confusing. What I'm talking about are pea sprouts. They're the new, baby plants that have just emerged from the seed. You can buy them in big, plastic bags at Asian markets.

I did make them yesterday as suggested by a couple of QB members on this thread and they were delicious. I got a little oil heated up in the skillet, added some minced garlic, then tossed in the sprouts and cooked them until just tender. I seasoned them with a little bit of soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil. I served mine over some noodles and added some chunks of baked tofu. YUM!

~ C

Glad yours turned out good. I have also raised the pods. I never knew you could eat the young plants. You learn something new all the time. lol.

Tropit, which game? I'm a huge baseball fan. (Yankees lol)

Monale, When I get pea shoots (aka sprouts) they are not as mature looking as the picture you posted. So they have not had time to make the tendrils or any tough bits. They are so tiny and delicate they look more like alfalfa sprouts only the leaves are just slightly bigger and most definitely have not made any pea pods yet, still many weeks away from that stage. Very delicate and if you do cook them it is only for a few seconds.

Yup...that's what mine look like. They're wonderful in salads and wraps. I liked them just lightly cooked too.

~ C

I'm a big baseball fan too! Go GIANTS!!! (...and maybe the As too.)
:D

~C

Sorry for the confusion! I've never been to a North American Chinese grocery, but when the original poster mentioned "Chinese market" and "pea shoots" I just naturally assumed it would be the same vegetable you'd find in a market in China... BTW: I've learned in China that not just pea shoots but green leaves from a whole variety of garden vegetables are edible and actually yummy! :)