This is always the go-to side dish for any meal. It’s dead easy, and you can use the same method for any dark leafy green. Snow pea leaves have an amazing flavor, so we’d highly recommend trying to get your hands on some. You’ll find it at a Chinese grocery store. But if it’s unavailable, you could go for other leafy greens like bok choy, choy sum, chinese broccoli, spinach, or watercress.
Here’s the watercress version:
And a version made with some unknown type of bok choy that we forgot the name of:
Here is the snow pea leaves dish.
Recipe Instructions
Soak snow pea leaves in a large bowl or other container for 1 to 2 hours. Then wash thoroughly (2 to 3 times) to get rid of all the dirt and sand clinging to the leaves and stems. Drain off all the water.
Using very high heat, heat oil in your wok until smoking. Quickly add the garlic and the veggies, taking care not to burn them by constantly stirring. After a minute, add salt, cracked white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir and mix well.
Put the lid on the wok and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Remove lid, stir briefly, and transfer to a dish.
Tip: don’t open the lid more than once during cooking, as it will cause the vegetables to lose their vibrant green color.
Check out another more recent pea tips stir fry recipe from Judy.
Here’s the nice and neat printable version:
Snow Pea Leaves with Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 pound snow pea leaves (450g)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3-5 cloves garlic (finely chopped, depending on how much you like)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Soak snow vegetables in a large bowl or other container for 1 to 2 hours. Then wash thoroughly (2 to 3 times) to get rid of all the dirt and sand clinging to the leaves and stems. Drain off all the water.
- Using very high heat, heat oil in your wok until it just starts to smoke a bit. Quickly add the garlic and the veggies, taking care not to burn them by constantly stirring. After a minute, add salt, cracked white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir and mix well.
- Put the lid on the wok and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Remove lid, stir briefly, and transfer to a dish.
- Tip: don't open the lid more than once during cooking, as it will cause the vegetables to lose their green color!
This is my Doctors favorite dish ever. He eats this 3 or 4 times a week and says it is so healthy and good for you. So now it’s my turn to try this delicious dis for myself…..
Hi Donna, definitely give it a try, as I’m certain you’ll enjoy stir-fried pea leaves :)
Why do the pea pod leaves need to soak in water for 1-2hrs beforehand? What happens if you don’t do that?
Hi Deborah, Judy likes to soak her vegetables to ensure all pesticides and residual fertilizer is washed off but how long and how many times to wash veggies is a personal preference. The long soaking times are recommended for vegetables with lots of sand and dirt so it falls off when you agitate it while washing.
The recipe is so straight forward and easy! The funny thing is that I’ve been making this dish for a while and it never really turned out great, until….I used this recipe. I guess the key is to have the wok on at very high temperature, which I never did. Thanks for these small but important changes to my cooking!
Hi Nancy, thanks for your comment and happy that you found us and our recipe :)