Sautéed Snow Pea Leaves
炒豆苗 (Chao Dou Miao)
Snow peas are a commonly available vegetable, but these crisp, sweet pods are not the only edible portion of the plant—the leaves and stems of young snow pea plants are tender and delicious as well. Snow pea leaves [1] are a prized vegetable in Chinese cuisine, and are most widely available in the spring and early summer. Outside of Asian markets, you can also often find these brilliantly green leaves at farmer’s markets. The classic preparation of snow pea leaves is a quick and simple stir fry, flavored with salt and garlic.
Ingredients
½ lb pea shoots
4 cloves garlic, sliced
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste
The first step is to wash the pea leaves. They are often quite gritty, and the leaves have to be washed thoroughly to remove the sand and dirt. The next step, preparing the leaves, is the what earns this dish its 2/5 difficulty rating. While the leaves are all edible, the older, thicker portion of the stems is too tough to eat. The thin, curly tendrils at the tip of the plant are also inedible. We want to keep only the young stem in between, which is hollow and crisp. We will sort the leaves by hand, tearing the leaves off the stem where it is too thick, and breaking the edible stem into 1 to 2 inch pieces. As a rule of thumb, discard stems which are more than ½ an inch or so in diameter, or which are not hollow. When buying snow pea leaves, try to select those which have thin stems, and not many tendrils.
Once the pea leaves are washed and prepped, it’s time to cook! Heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Thinly slice the garlic, and add it to the hot oil. Fry the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then add the snow pea leaves to the pan, toss once to distribute the oil and garlic, and cover the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the leaves have just wilted and are tender. Season the leaves with salt and serve immediately.
Substitutions
This method of quick stir frying works well for other tender leafy greens, such as baby spinach.
[1] Snow pea leaves are sometimes referred to in Asian supermarkets as “pea shoots” or “snow pea tips.”
Recipe
Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 3 min Total Time: 8 min
Difficulty: 2/5
Heat Sources: 1 burner
Equipment: pan
Servings: 4
Ingredients
½ lb pea shoots
4 cloves garlic, sliced
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Instructions
1. Heat about 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil comes up to temperature, add the sliced garlic and fry until fragrant, approximately 30 seconds.
2. Add the washed pea leaves to the pan, toss, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes.
3. Salt to taste and serve.
