Pea Shoots, She Scores

The Stems of the Pea Plant

If someone had told me 2 years ago that at three o'clock in the morning I would find myself thinking of the left-over greens lying in my fridge... Yes, not the left-over piece of pizza, or those last oatmeal raisin cookies but a bowl of VEGETABLES...I would have never believed it!

Alas, that was before pea shoots completely captured my heart and taste buds. As of yet, I have been unable to find the actual plant at our markets and so I have been ordering the dish from our favorite Chinese restaurant.

The first time we were there in person I ordered pea shoots in garlic. It wasn't on the menu, but the woman understood what I meant and I was ecstatic to receive the piping hot dish in all of it's green glory.

Ever since then there has been a slight communication problem. I ask for pea shoots which causes a sort of confusion. I get a different employee each time and we dance around different pea words such as "vines", "tips", "stems", "leaves" until understanding is reached.

I find from my wanderings on the web that this is common. There doesn't seem to be a standard name for this dish in English. Some people prepare the stems, some the leaves (I like both). Regardless, the common understanding is that it is delicious.

It is one of the more expensive dishes to order in a Chinese restaurant. It can be pricier than some of the meat dishes. At first, this perplexed me because I read that the plant itself is not expensive to purchase at Asian markets.

However, I have now read that it is a seasonal plant and can be a difficult dish to prepare, being very easy to overcook or undercook. http://www.winterjade.com/delectation/archives/000048.html

I love this dish so much that sometimes I will eat it straight out of the container - cold. It actually tastes really wonderful that way. I think I hear some calling my name right now...