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.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb pea leaves
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3-5 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic (depending on how much you like)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
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!
So easy and super delicious!
THANK YOU I appreciated this instructions.
see you next time
Z. MILBURN
You are very welcome, Zinnia!
Where (online) can I buy seeds for growing snow pea shoots? These are so expensive to buy fresh!
Thank you
Hi M Toro, we have never tried growing snow peas just for the shoots, but I would start with searching on Amazon or searching for sites specializing in selling specialty vegetable seeds.
I have a mixed planting of snow peas and sugar snaps in my garden that has about run its course for peas. Wouldvthe leaves from these be suitable for this recipe? Or are fresh sprouts require? And it appears stems are cooked along with the leaves?
Hi Joe, these pea tips (snow pea and/or sugar pea) must be very meaty and tender (as shown in our photos), which means they should be very easy to pinch off by hand. The tips should be mostly leaves along with new sprouts. Also, compared with other leafy greens, this particular green requires double the amount of cooking oil.
You can grow your own pea shoots. I use a grow light box but if you have good light you can just put them on a windowsill. All you need to do is plants peas (whatever kind you like). I buy cheap dried peas and soak them overnight in water then plant in dirt. They will sprout in a few days and in a few weeks you can simply cut the shoots to harvest. They keep coming back. You can let them be tiny or larger, cook them or use raw in salads, whatever. Cheap, healthy and very very tasty!
Great idea! Thank you for sharing.
Before I put the lid on and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, do I turn the heat down at all ?
Hi Gwen, please keep the heat on high(est) the whole time except the beginning when you cook the garlic.
Stove burner heat varies greatly which in turn affects the amount of liquid in the wok so use your own judgement on the cooking time so you don’t burn it or end up with soup, but yes, full blast heat and when you uncover it stir fry the mixture around the perimeter of the hot wok for maximum sizzle and wok hei! ;-)
If I use yu choy, do I need to do anything to it beforehand (soak, blanch, etc)?
Hey Karo, nope, just wash them thoroughly, and if the ends are a little tough, you can trim them!
I made this tonight and it was great! Snow pea leaves have a wonderful flavor and this simple preparation does them justice!
Hi Nancy, Glad to hear you tried this. I was also hooked by the fresh flavor of Snow pea leaves the first time I tried it!