Stir-Fried Pea Pod Stems with Garlic
Several years ago, on one of her visits, my mom left me with a bag of fresh pea pod stems. "What am I supposed to do with this?" I wondered. She said it was very simple (everything in the kitchen is very simple to her it seems). "Just stir-fry some garlic, then the leaves and some salt. That's it!" I was doubtful since really I thought the joy is in the pea pods, not the stems. But I hate wasting food so I cooked it up and was surprised to find that it tasted really good. I forgot about it after that. The leaves had come from my mom's garden and I had assumed it was a dish that she came up with to make use of as much of the plant as possible. It didn't occur to me that I could get this at a restaurant.
Fast-forward several years and I'm browsing chowhound.com and noticing lots of posts extolling the tastiness of pea pod stems. So I went to a Chinese restaurant, saw it on the menu and was happy to find that yes, it was the same thing and they cooked it even better than my first attempt. More good news is on the way. It turns out that you can buy fresh pea pod stems in Asian grocery stores. Good thing...in the restaurant, the dish seems to range from $10-12. At the grocery store, the leaves were $5 per pound so a medium to big bag of it was about $3.50. Simple and quick to prepare. The tender leaves shrink down pretty quickly so be careful not to overcook them. After several attempts, I think I've finally got it down. The trickiest part for me was salting...I kept under-salting.
If you order it at a restaurant, ask for chao3 dou4 miao2 (I think that's how you write it in pinyin). It's pronounced kinda like 'chow dough meow'. Really yummy and good for you too!
Stir-fried Pea Pod Stems with Garlic
8 oz fresh, tender pea leaves
2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
thread in vegrecipes
Fast-forward several years and I'm browsing chowhound.com and noticing lots of posts extolling the tastiness of pea pod stems. So I went to a Chinese restaurant, saw it on the menu and was happy to find that yes, it was the same thing and they cooked it even better than my first attempt. More good news is on the way. It turns out that you can buy fresh pea pod stems in Asian grocery stores. Good thing...in the restaurant, the dish seems to range from $10-12. At the grocery store, the leaves were $5 per pound so a medium to big bag of it was about $3.50. Simple and quick to prepare. The tender leaves shrink down pretty quickly so be careful not to overcook them. After several attempts, I think I've finally got it down. The trickiest part for me was salting...I kept under-salting.
If you order it at a restaurant, ask for chao3 dou4 miao2 (I think that's how you write it in pinyin). It's pronounced kinda like 'chow dough meow'. Really yummy and good for you too!
Stir-fried Pea Pod Stems with Garlic
8 oz fresh, tender pea leaves
2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Wash the pea leaves and discard any coarse stems and wilted leaves; set aside.
- Heat pan on high then add the oil and swirl around. Add the garlic and sizzle for a few seconds.
- Add the pea leaves. Stir-fry briskly for a couple of minutes until just wilted.
- Add salt to taste.
thread in vegrecipes