Pea shoots

[TdeV]

Does one cook pea shoots?

And, if so, how?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Does one cook pea shoots?

And, if so, how?

 

I'd eat them raw.  But I only grew pea shoots one year, and now I can no longer have a (balcony) garden.

 

[TdeV]

I only recall having them once, at Thomas Keller's French Laundry. In was a new and fresh take on peas and carrots. Just divine.

But I don't remember how they were done.

 

I ate a few this afternoon in a ham sandwich. They tasted a bit like watercress but not as bright.  Raw, they didn't taste of peas.

[rotuts]

i used o get them @ my local town market .

 

raw ,sliced etc for texture 

 

light steamed , or very quickly stir fried.

 

delicious.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

I have used them in stir fries, egg rolls, and egg fu yung.

[Katie Meadow]

46 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Does one cook pea shoots?

And, if so, how?

Quick wok stir fry with garlic. 

[dcarch]

2 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Does one cook pea shoots?

And, if so, how?

 

At least 1.412 billion people in China.

Any cooking method to cook will work.

 

dcarch 😄

Edited December 6, 2022 by dcarch (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

 

At least 1.412 billion people in China.

Any cooking method to cook will work.

 

dcarch 😄

 

Some of us are not in China.

 

[Alex]

4 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Quick wok stir fry with garlic. 

 

Ditto. Cooks down quickly.

[TdeV]

In spite of all the helpful advice, I did not have success last night.

Will amend this post with a photo.

Back to the drawing board.

[TdeV]

Romertopf duck with not very successful pea shoots.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

6 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Romertopf duck with not very successful pea shoots.

 

 

 

Perhaps they were a bit overcooked?

I'm slightly baffled here. Why do you want to cook them? They are so good Raw in a salad or in a wrap.

If you do cook them, they need to be stir fried for just a minute or two and if you use them with other vegetables they should go in the very last thing.

[Tropicalsenior]

Most of the websites that I visited give this one very piece of the important advice.

• "Dry the pea shoots as best you can before stir frying. A little moisture is fine, but you need it as dry as possible to avoid steaming it."

 

[blue_dolphin]

15 minutes ago, TdeV said:

not very successful pea shoots.

Can you say a bit more about what you disliked about them?

Looking at the recipes where I’ve cooked them, they were always part of mix of vegetables rather than solo voyagers. 
Sometimes, they are more leafy and other times more…well…shoot-y and the latter definitely benefit from some companions. 

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

Romertopf duck with not very successful pea shoots.

 

 

 

 

Those look like tender young sprouts that might have been fne raw in a salad.

[rotuts]

@TdeV 

 

id say , think os pea shoots  

 

grilling romain 

 

not as a vegetable   i.e.  something to cook

 

but as a garnish,  it does matter a bit

 

on their maturity

 

fhink

 

lettuce :  Salad,  root beef sandwich  

 

like that

 

grilling romaine lettuce  is one thing

 

but P.S,  are not romaine

 

flash Wok'd  10 seconds

 

would be nice.  as th P.S'swould ick uo

 

the garlic , ginger etc

 

from the Wok as you addd those ingredients fist

 

in moderation

 

so you cab taste the shoots,

 

they don't really taste like peas

 

more like mild green shoots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TdeV]

I had had the pea shoots raw in a sandwich that afternoon. I did not find they had a noticeable taste.

I put them in the Anova oven at 200°F 100% steam for about 5 minutes. Also no noticeable taste.

Not very satisfactory.

 

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by TdeV
Addendum (log)

[heidih]

1 minute ago, TdeV said:

I had had the pea shoots raw in a sandwich that afternoon. I did not find they had a noticeable taste.

I put them in the Anova oven at 200°F 100% steam for about 5 minutes. Also no noticeable taste.

Not very satisfactory.

 

 

Ouch way too much heat - they just want a kiss or added as garnish on a hot dish

[pastrygirl]

 

@TdeV  much more substantial pea vines from a local Szechuan restaurant. Still mild, mostly a vehicle for garlic.   They’re no kale or mustard in terms of flavor. 

[heidih]

Those as you note more young vines than shoots. The ones I see alongside bean sprouts in Asian market are more like a tender sprout.  Like the alphalpha sprouts  and radish sprouts sold in clam shells.

[KennethT]

1 minute ago, heidih said:

Those as you note more young vines than shoots. The ones I see alongside bean sprouts in Asian market are more like a tender sprout.  Like the alphalpha sprouts  and radish sprouts sold in clam shells.

It's quite common around here that what @pastrygirlhas are called pea shoots even though they're much older than the recently sprouted shoots.

[heidih]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

It's quite common around here that what @pastrygirlhas are called pea shoots even though they're much older than the recently sprouted shoots.

so cooking technique advice might confuse...perhapos an image of raw by the question person would help her

[liuzhou]

32 minutes ago, KennethT said:

It's quite common around here that what @pastrygirlhas are called pea shoots even though they're much older than the recently sprouted shoots.

 

 I tend to differentiate. We get pea sprouts

 

 

and we get pea shoots

 

 

The sprouts need wilting at most. The shoots need a minute or two in the wok. The only difference really, is age.

 

If it's any comfort the Chinese names are equally confusable.

[Mjx]

I love pea shoots, but I wouldn't cook them unless I had concerns about the safety of eating them raw.

[TdeV]

Thanks for everyone's advice. It doesn't help that I have no memory of Thomas Keller's pea shoots and carrots dish. Which in turn my boyfriend's mother made for me in my teen years. A rabbit hole. 🙄