Making This Dish Requires Tremendous Patience for Better Results
I spent most of the time trimming and washing this vegetable. After that was done and the aromatics prepared, cooking the greens was super fast!
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
Stir-fried pea shoots with garlic is an item that my family and I would order often at Chinese restaurants, though it was expensive relative to other vegetables. Cooking this at home would save a lot of money, but I worried about the long preparation time. However, when I saw pea shoots on sale for about 30% off at $4.99 per pound around Lunar New Year, I decided to give it a try.
Inspiring Recipe
The recipe that I found to guide me through the process was, Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic, from a website called Omnivore’s Cookbook. This site is one that I’ve referenced for a few other dishes, the last of which was fried rice.
First Try
Since I had already purchased the main ingredient, I just needed to grab the other ones from my kitchen.
Ingredients to Use
Of the six ingredients, I only made one substitution, i.e., avocado for peanut/vegetable oil.
With .9 pounds of pea shoots, I almost doubled the remaining ingredients as follows:
- 2 1/2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of oil
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1/3 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon* of ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 1/4 teaspoons of Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
- 1/3 teaspoon of salt
*The extra 1/8 teaspoon of ginger was added because I had some left and didn’t want to waste it.
Steps to Prepare
Before following all the steps in the instructions, I prepared the garlic and ginger slightly differently than what was shown on the website.
Instead of mincing the garlic cloves, I just smashed them. As for the ginger, I grated instead of mincing it. These adjustments were done so I could have less garlic, but more ginger flavor in the vegetables.
Time to Eat
Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of how the first batch of pea shoots came out, due to an issue with the memory card in the camera.
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6️⃣ | 🤏🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
The pea shoots could’ve been softer and more flavorful if they were cooked a little longer with a bit more salt.
From my family’s perspective, a couple of members thought there was too much ginger flavor, but one person just kept eating the vegetables!
Second Try
For the second round, I focused on improving the texture and flavor of the pea shoots.
Ingredients to Use
With a heavier bag of pea shoots from the supermarket, 1.25 pounds, I increased the amount for the remaining ingredients and planned to use the following:
- 3 1/2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of oil
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of ginger
- 1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon of Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
- 1 1/4 teaspoons* of salt
*For the salt, I doubled the amount in the default recipe and converted it for 1.25 pounds of pea shoots.
Steps to Prepare
As compared to the first round, I only made one modification. To tone down the flavor, I sliced the ginger instead of grating it.
Time to Eat
Finally, the pea shoots are done!
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6️⃣ | 🤏🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
The pea shoots were softer, but had a little crunch to them. With the extra wine that I accidentally poured in and salt that I intended to add, the dish was saltier than I preferred. However, I enjoyed the balance in the garlic and ginger flavors.
Nevertheless, my younger son still liked the pea shoots.
If there’s an afternoon when I don’t mind sorting through pea shoot stems to remove the tough parts, I would cook this dish again. When I do, I would tweak the recipe as follows:
Continuous Improvement
- Increase the salt by 1.5x what’s listed on the default recipe.
After getting over the shock of losing photos from my first attempt in making pea shoots, below is what I would share with my previous self:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Replace equipment right away when signs of unreliability show up.
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the recipe, Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic, from a website called Omnivore’s Cookbook?
- Share your favorite method of cooking pea shoots?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)