A simple Asian-inspired vegetable dish in five minutes
If you cook a lot of Asian dishes and wonder what else you can quickly throw together that would go well with everything — try quickly stir-frying some raw pea sprouts.
These sprouts are widely available at local Super H-Mart stores, Assi Markets and at the Buford Highway Farmers Market (packaged in containers in the produce section).
I also have been tossing a small clump of these in bowls of soups, or drizzling with a little low sodium soy sauce and eating as-is.
Here is a quick recipe for stir-frying:
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of peanut oil, or vegetable oil
2 large handfuls of pea sprouts
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp of Asian chile oil/sauce (optional)
Finish with ground black pepper
1. Heat a wok (or wide frying pan) on high heat
2. Add a tsp of peanut oil, or any other kind of vegetable oil
3. Add the minced garlic
4. After the garlic turns a light golden color in the oil, add the pea sprouts
5. Using tongs or a wooden spoon, quickly stir the sprouts around in the wok/pan
6. Add soy sauce, chile sauce and quickly stir the sprouts around for one more minute.
7. Remove from heat, add black pepper, plate and enjoy!
You can also apply this same recipe to bok choy, snow pea shoots (when in season) and some other of your favorite delicate greens.
by Gene Lee, Food and More blog
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© 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
15 comments Add your comment
Kar
February 15th, 2012
1:41 pm
Is that the same as the pea tips? With the large leaves and square, hollow stems and sometimes white blossoms? They have such succulent flavor that they’re delicious steamed with just a little hot sesame oil.
What is that pic? Looks almost like watercress with those thin regular stems, which can also be used as a quick and easy green for Asian dishes.
Gene Lee
February 15th, 2012
1:54 pm
@Kar – These sprouts are smaller. But lead me to pea tips and I will eat my weight in them. Have you also tried ong choy? It’s a water spinach that also has hollow stems.
Kar
February 15th, 2012
2:00 pm
I think I had expected pea tips and was disappointed but maybe I don’t know how they’re prepared best.
I love the pea tips but they can be very expensive these days. Got a small bag the other week and it was $12!
Rodney
February 15th, 2012
2:31 pm
That photo makes my mouth water … Dang it – now I’m houngry. Not hungry … houngry.
Edward
February 15th, 2012
2:32 pm
I love the pea leaves/stems. I used to get those every time I went to Cafe 101 (when in season). Lately, I’ve enjoyed a quick stir fry like this with baby long napa I found at HMart.
Lorenzo
February 15th, 2012
2:36 pm
An egg lightly scrambled in the wok is a great addition to this recipe. I do a similar recipe with snow pea shoots, adding egg in addition to the garlic and using concentrated chicken stock instead of soy sauce and chile sauce.
Gwendolyn
February 15th, 2012
3:17 pm
Phoenix Gardens local grower in Gwinnett County grows a variety of Asia veggies during the summer.
join our mailing list at http://www.phoenixgardens.net we also sell online at The Cumming Harvest so check us out. Still accepting Spring CSA Memberships also.
reds
February 16th, 2012
8:58 am
Um…. yum! That looks so good. I will admit that whenever I try to stir fry, I feel like I don’t do it right. It takes longer than I think it should, so I’ve been thinking I probably have too much in the wok at once. My aunt (who is Taiwanese) was teaching me how to make Jap Chae, and she explained that she does each ingredient seperately to keep the flavors seperate. I thought “meh, waste of time.” and tried to do it all at once. It turned out good, but maybe there was more to it.
Veggie
February 16th, 2012
2:46 pm
I tried this using kale. Made for a great meal, though I topped it off with toasted almonds.
Tom
February 16th, 2012
9:23 pm
I used to be able to get Ong Choy easily but since it has been declared a prohibited plant as it multiplies so profusely and chokes up rivers and waterways, it’s now very hard to find.
Asian
February 16th, 2012
11:20 pm
This is a very common Chinese vegetable dish. The hard part is finding the sprouts in season. My mom is very picky though they taste fine even if they are out of season, just not quite as tasty.
The trick is to have a very high heat source and not to overcook the veggies. If you go to a Chinese restaurant you see the big flame under the wok. Alot of families including my mom have a separate propane burner because they feel that propane burns hotter than natural gas.
Asian
February 16th, 2012
11:26 pm
Another way to cook this is to simply blanch the sprouts and mix it to the above mixture. Again don’t overcook.
Gene Lee
February 17th, 2012
8:10 am
@Veggie – I do this with kale too. Although I use olive oil and lots of garlic!
@Tom – You’re right about ong choy. I’ve spotted it here and there on Chinese dishes around town, and a former co-worker brought some in one time.
@Asian – I have success on my stovetop. Use a small/size-proportionate wok, let it sit on high heat for a few minutes, oil it down and then go to work. Koreans apply this blanching/mixture method to spinach/watercress/fernbracken (fiddlehead fern). The trick is to maintain that lustrous green.
Katy Watts
February 17th, 2012
10:21 am
O.K. so when are they in season???
JRHD
February 17th, 2012
10:35 am
Reading this article while eating a Clif granola bar…STARVATION is setting in!!!!!!!!