Pea Tips or pea leaves are gaining popularity as more people are informed of their sweet, delicious existence and search for them on Chinese restaurant menus. We’ve already covered a recipe for these, but we wanted to do a redux version with new photos.
Pea tips are the tender leaves of a pea plant and they are one of the best stir fry vegetables and also the most vogue for the past few years. They’re available pretty much year-around at our local Chinese grocery store but like anything else, best when they are in season. If you go out to buy them, look for short stems with thick leaves (they’re rather tough when skinny and long). You can also grab a stem and pull it apart. It’s good if it snaps easily. Some of them will have pea tendrils, which are tough so you’ll want to pick them off. But the leaves are quite tender and they have the most delightful flavor!
This vegetable’s texture is similar to spinach, but with a very refreshing, sweet flavor (without that iron-y residue that spinach has). You do need to spend a little bit of time going through them and to pick off the tougher parts, but once the prep work is done, pea leaves only take a couple of minutes to cook and serve.
Note:
- This particular vegetable requires a little more oil than you’d usually use to cook veggies but all stir fry vegetables need a liberal amount of light oil
- When cooking leafy green vegetables, do NOT cover the lid more than once, or your veggies will turn yellow.
- To get that restaurant taste, increase the salt a little bit, and cook over very high heat. These sweet tasting pea tips will balance the salt so no added sugar is needed
Ingredients:
- 1 pound snow pea leaves or tips (picked, thoroughly washed clean)
- 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3-5 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Make sure your pea tips are thoroughly washed and picked through for tough stems.
Heat the oil in a large wok over high heat. Add the garlic and stir for a couple of seconds before adding the pea tips.
Stir-fry for 20 seconds, keeping the vegetables constantly moving.
Add the salt, white pepper, and sesame oil.
Continue stir-frying until the pea tips are completely wilted but still vibrant green. Serve.
- 1 pound snow pea leaves (picked, thoroughly washed clean)
- 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3-5 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Make sure your pea leaves are thoroughly washed and picked through for tough stems. Heat the oil in a large wok over high heat. Add the garlic and stir for a couple of seconds before adding the veggies.
- Stir-fry for 20 seconds, keeping the vegetables constantly moving. Add the salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Continue stir-frying until the vegetables are completely wilted but still vibrant green. Serve.
Alice says
Thank you for introducing me to this sweet, tender, delicious vegetable! We both loved this dish. One question though – how did you pick a pound of pea leaves in only 15 minutes? I saw that was the prep time but it took me much longer to pick only half a pound of them. I’d welcome learning any tricks or techniques about how to do that.
Bill says
Hi Alice, practice makes perfect is all I can say. Of course, a good tender bunch requires less picking too. Happy cooking!
Audra says
I forgot to mention that this recipe is fantastic in an omelette. ( typically add a shallot when I put greens in an omelette.
Bill says
Hi Audra, Never tried these in an omelette, but you can’t go wrong with veggies and eggs!
Audra says
AWESOME RECIPE!!!!!!! Leafy greens are a delicious staple in the south, where I grew up. Since making the Pacific North West home, I have been challenged to find my beloved collard, turnip or mustard greens at a reasonable price. My hunt for affordable greens led to me to explore the produce at Asian Stores. I have an absolute love for Gai Lan, Yu Choy and Pea Vine greens–OMG. They make more of an appearance at my dinner table than the greens I grew up eating! Plus they are all very easy to prepare. I find the stir-fry method with yummy sesame oil, fresh garlic, white pepper (MSG occasionally) etc easier than boiling tougher, older greens in stock and smokey pork hocks (I actually like both methods though) I have taken ‘young’ more tender greens, from my garden, such as collard and broccoli greens and prepared them using similar cooking methods posted on this blog with much success. Eating more produce from some of the Asian stores has expanded my options and I love it! I am motivated to try amaranth greens–thanks for the recipe! Thanks!
Bill says
Hi Audra, Stir-fried leafy green vegetables are the best! Keep up the great cooking!
Meg @ Noming thru Life says
Wow! Thanks for sharing this. I’ve never had pea tips… is that crazy? Have I been under a rock and never knew it? BUT they look delicious, so I’m going to have to find me some peat tips and get stir frying, asap!
Judy says
Hi Meg, that sounds like a perfect plan.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I LOVE eating pea tips… and travelling in Asia they were always something I could get my hands on. Wish it was the same here in Australia though – they are rare to find!
Judy says
Hi Thaila, being that it’s so popular, I am sure it will find its way to Australia soon enough. If you grow your own snow peas or sugar snap peas, pinch the tips and have yourself some pea tip stir-fry. ^0^
Douglas Brown says
My wife and I are big Chinese food fans, and go out to eat at least once a week. One of the things we wish that we were better at is making Chinese food from home, but we just don’t have any recipes. Pea Tips sounds like a good idea to try out, and we appreciate the pictures to go with the instructions; we are very slow learners! Even if we do perfect a dish, we will still need our weekly Chinese outing fix!
Judy says
Hi Douglas, Pea Tips Stir Fry is a good dish to start, always know that we are here to help. \^o^/
Francesca says
It’s meals like these, tougher leafy greens, that I miss and crave the most here in Holland. The closest thing we have is kale (meh!)
Judy says
You poor thing, I guess I shouldn’t complain about the nonseasonal vegetables that we have here. Every time I go the market, I see the same things. Oh, how I miss the fresh and seasonal produce in Beijing!
Donna says
Love the simplicity of this dish and wanting to try it. However this is a new vegetable for me so could you explain what you mean by “tough parts”. Is that the entire stem or just lower portion? How to tell?
Judy says
Hi Donna, notice the 2nd picture of post, what’s on the left is what it looks like when you buy it. I rip it into three pieces (shown on the right), and discard the tough, short stem. Basically, you discard what feels tough to you. Hope this helps!
Ann @ FoodandFont says
This is one of my must orders when I go out for Chinese, especially with a dry scallop sauce.
Judy says
This dish always costs a lot more than all the other leafy vegetable dishes at Chinese restaurants, so it’s great to able to make it at home.