Pea Shoots and Garlic Stir Fry

When you do your farmers market shopping and you spot fresh pea shoots, you know that Spring is finally here. One of my favorite way to enjoy pea shoots is to cook them in this Chinese pea shoots and garlic stir-fry.

It’s a very light dish, and very quick and easy to prepare. It is also a vegan-friendly and completely gluten-free, and a great way to add more vegetables into your diet.

What are pea shoots?

Pea shoots are delicious young shoots grown from any variety of peas. They have a fresh and mild pea flavor and are very tender. They look very attractive with frilly leaves, making them excellent garnish for sushi, salads, or open sandwiches. They taste great in stir-fry dishes too.

In the farmers market, you may start sporting pea shoots in early spring. In the Asian/Chinese market, they are usually available year-round. Most of the time, I got them from the Asian market, and they are usually labeled as 小豆米 (xiao dou miao) and come in plastic packaging.

Once you buy your pea shoots, it is best if you can use them within a day or two. Be sure to gently wash them to remove any dirt before using.

What's in pea shoots and garlic stir-fry?

The main idea of this quick and easy stir-fry dish is to enjoy pea shoots to the fullest. And such, I will use a very minimal list of ingredients. We will need fresh pea shoots, garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, salt, and oil.

For garlic, you can mince or thinly slice. Thinly sliced garlic will look more attractive in the final dish, but minced garlic will give you stronger garlicky flavor.

I love adding a splash of Shaoxing wine when stir-frying greens, but it is absolutely okay to omit if you don’t have this in your pantry. Or, feel free to sub with your favorite wine you use for stir-frying greens.

How to cook this pea shoots dish?

First, heat a wok over high heat until hot, then reduce the heat to a medium. Add oil and swirl to coat, then sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant.

Return the heat to medium-high, add pea shoots and fold with a spatula to coat with oil. Then add Shaoxing wine and salt, and stir until the pea shoots are starting to wilt.

Quickly turn off the heat and immediately transfer the vegetables to a serving plate. Serve immediately.