Pea Tendrils (Pea shoots)

Pea tendrils are the young shoots of a pea plant. This vegetable is very common in Chinese cooking and can usually be found in a Chinese supermarket. This is one of my favorite vegetables – it’s got a mild balanced flavor, it’s chock full of vitamins, and it’s so easy to cook! Just stir fry for a couple minutes with some crushed garlic, oil, and salt and you’ve got a healthy and very tasty dish.

If you see some larger stems, make sure to remove them. The tough stalks are not fun to eat. You don’t want to make the same mistake as the chef who made my chicken dish the other night.

Add ~1 T oil to a wok. Once the oil is hot (you can test it by flicking in a tiny bit of water to see if it sizzles), add the crushed garlic and let it brown & become fragrant (about 1 minute).

Add in the vegetables and cover for about 1-2 minutes. Stir the leaves around in the wok until al the leaves have wilted and cooked. Add salt to taste.

That’s it! You don’t want to overcook – otherwise it starts to turn slightly dark greenish yellow, not the beautiful bright green color that it should be!