Cooking with Amy recently offered up a rather apt solution, suggesting that pea shoots taste, quite simply, of spring. Just like spring. Found at the greenmarket for at least the next several weeks or so, pea shoots comprise all of the divinely sweet parts of the plant, minus the pod—floppy leaves, clingy curlicue tendrils, and slender, sturdy stems that connect them all in a maddeningly tangled mess.
And, on occasion, a delicate white blossom. All eminently edible. True pea shoots are ephemeral, emerging only during spring. However, there is a potentially confusing subclass of pea shoots. These wee greens are plucked much earlier, with barely any tiny leaves at the end of their elongated stems. Which is to say, harvesting the divinely sweet leaves and their maddeningly tenacious tendrils now means a scarcity of peas in the pod later. No qualms here. Those pulled from the garden early in the season are tender and require no cooking.
The larger and slightly tougher tendrils that emerge later in the season could use the taming afforded by a quick toss in a wok or a blazing-hot skillet. Either way, the shoots contain all of the vital essence of the pea in its would-be state, making them more than just modestly nutritious. Given that the frilly little things and their nutrients wilt within a day or two, as soon as you get back from the greenmarket, tuck the shoots between paper or clean towels that are ever-so-slightly dampened, then nudge them inside a plastic bag left partially open.
A simple tangle atop just about anything, including the chicken salad above, will more than suffice, especially when anointed with a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil and a little coarse sea salt. Why mess with perfection? The unique taste and texture of pea shoots work uncommonly well with the creamy sour cream dressing. You can play loose and easy with the rest of the ingredients for the salad, slipping in other spring vegetables such as blanched sugar snaps, raw carrots, or, for the bold, julienned burdock or salsify.
Recipe Testers' Reviews Cindi Kruth This recipe is as simple as most chicken salads, but with a refreshing taste-twist. We all loved the gingery, slightly sweet-sour dressing. I also tried pea shoots for half of the salad and microgreens for the other half. Both were good, but the pea shoots were our favorite, so they are worth seeking out. Pea shoots can add a fresh perspective to the starchy texture of potatoes. Try adding them to mashed potatoes to make delicious Pea Shoot Fritters.
Salads are probably the most popular uses for pea shoots. Their tender leaves make a great substitute for leafy greens and they add a burst of sweet pea flavor to salads. Pea shoots are versatile and bring a lot to the table when raw or cooked.
Pea shoots are the young leaves, stems, and delicate tendrils of any pea plants, including snow peas, sugar snap peas, and English peas. As you'd expect with green vegetables, pea shoots are packed with vitamins A and C, plus folic acid and antioxidants. They rank low in fat, calories, and carbohydrates, so you can eat 'em up like there's no tomorrow.
If you're not growing your own pea shoots, look for them at farmers' markets in springtime. If you have access to an Asian market, look for them there, too. They're very fragile and don't last long, so plan to eat them within a day or two of buying them. In fact, they're very easy to grow in a garden or container. Plant seeds in the ground mid to late winter, or plant seedlings from late winter to early spring. I know this sounds like a lot of work. Plus, sometimes you can get very lucky and all the pea shoots will be crispy and tender.
For example, last time I cooked half a pound of pea shoots, I discarded only a very small handful of stems see the picture below. You might be able to get away without doing this step, but taking the time to sort them will generate a better result.
Another thing that my mom keeps reminding me — never crowd your pan and cook too many veggies at a time. For example, when I made this dish I used a fairly powerful portable gas stove and a large carbon steel pan.
I only cooked half a pound grams of pea shoots. You can see in the picture below, the pea shoots took up most of the pan, even after they were cooked and had shrunk.
The cooking took about a minute and the veggies were beautifully seared. I talked about this in detail in a previous post. Long story short, I always prefer to use a heavy duty nonstick pan or carbon steel pan which I did instead of a wok. Because you can heat up these types of pans more thoroughly in a home kitchen. The answer is yes and no. Try to do a folding motion with your spatula in the beginning.
The veggies will shrink and just cover the bottom of your pan after a few seconds. Then you can use a stirring motion for the rest of the cooking. Even though the stir-frying process only takes about a minute, the prep and setup take way more time.
However, once I bite into a freshly cooked pea shoot, I realize it was worth all the trouble. If you give this recipe a try, let us know! I love hearing from you! Submit your question or review below. Your email address will not be published. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail.
You can also subscribe without commenting. Are pea shoots the same as water spinach? Filipinos call it kangkong and the waiters in Chinatown know it under that name as well as the Chinese name. Hi Lynne, water spinach is not pea shoots, but you can use the same method to cook them. Happy cooking! Great Recipe!
And for the comment about the time consuming prep. It took me 2 hours while I watched a movie to finish all of the de stemming and tendril very stringy eating cutting. I thought there was something wrong because it took so long! Nice to know that it might be the reason they cost so much at the restaurant — so much prep!
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