2-ingredient Chinese Snow Pea Leaves Stir-Fry in a light garlic sauce. It takes mere minutes to cook and is a great way to add dark leafy greens into your meals!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Asian, Chinese
Keyword Snow Pea Leaves, Snow Pea Leaves Stir-Fry, Snow Pea Shoots, Snow Pea Tips
Rinse/wash the snow pea leaves under room temperature water. Set aside to drain well or use a salad spinner to drain. In the meantime, prepare garlic ready to use.
Preheat a large saute skillet or wok over medium-high heat, when hot add avocado oil. Lower the heat to medium, add garlic and season with a pinch of salt. Saute until fragrant, about 5-8 seconds.
Add snow pea leaves. Increase the heat to medium-high and gently toss the pea leaves with a tong or chopsticks. Toss often so that the entire batch can cook evenly, about 3-4 minutes total. The leafy parts should turn deeper vibrant green color yet the stem parts are still tender and crisp. Season with salt to taste.
Off heat. Transfer the snow peas to a large serving plate. Spoon the garlic over the greens. If there’s juice in the skillet, you may leave it behind if you wish. Serve immediately, in room temperature, or slightly chilled.
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Notes
In most Chinese markets, snow pea tips are sold in bags with the tougher parts already removed so all you need to do is to wash the vegetables and drain well before sauteing. The best way to select them is to look for bags that don’t contain too many of the curly tendrils or bubbling flowers as those are tough to chew and it’s an indication that the snow pea tips aren’t harvested while they are the most tender. If you select them well, the pea shoot stems are just as tender as the leaves so don’t throw away the stems unless the stems feel tough or thick in your hands or look dry and brittle. In that case, nip a small tougher bits away. Break off any flowers or curly tendrils and discard those as well. If the leafy parts look wilted or soiled, discard that, too.If you can't find snow pea leaves but still would like to try this recipe, use a whole bunch of spinach that contains leafy and stem parts. There's no perfect substitution for snow pea leaves but the texture of spinach is probably the closest one.