Chinese Snow Pea Shoots with Garlic

Some of the most delicious Chinese dishes are the easiest to cook yourself. My ultimate favourite Chinese side dish is this quick and easy snow pea shoots with garlic. Ready in minutes! Packed with flavour and a wonderful part of any Chinese feast.

My first taste of Chinese Snow Pea Shoots with Garlic was in a fantastic Shanghai restaurant in Sydney many years ago. I frequented this restaurant almost weekly to enjoy dumplings of every variety mostly, but would always order a vegetable of some decription to make myself feel better. This dish was almost always the dish I ordered.

It's a very simple combination of pea shoots/tendrils stir fried with garlic and a little Chinese cooking wine. It has a delicate pea flavour with a subtle garlic note. It's completely addictive and invariably would last of all of 30 seconds - a frenzy of chopsticks until every last shoot was devoured.

Upon learning how to make it at home, I've been cooking it whenever I can get hold of pea shoots. I'll often plan an entire meal based around this dish. I have been known to eat this dish along with freshly cooked rice and a fried egg. There's nothing better!

What's Ahead?

What is 蒜蓉炒豆苗 - 'dòu miáo'

蒜蓉炒豆苗 (suàn róng chǎo dòu miáo) is a popular Chinese dish consisting of stir-fried pea shoots (dòu miáo) with garlic (suàn) sauce. Pea shoots are the tender leaves and tendrils of pea plants and are prized for their delicate flavour and crisp texture. Pea shoots are often harvested in the spring, making this dish particularly popular during that season when the shoots are tender and abundant.

I ate this dish so many times over the years that I learned its Mandarin name, 'dòu miáo' in English. I would fumble over its pronunciation at many Shanghai restaurants, much to the amusement of wait staff, but I always managed to get my stir fried snow peas in the end!

Why it works?

It's quick and healthy - honestly, this dish is ready in a matter of seconds. And when eaten fresh from the wok there's nothing better. It's a plate of clean flavours that you just know are doing you good!

Stuff You'll Need

This dish is sparse and simple, the ingredients are few and this is reflected in the clean simple flavours and speed in which it cooks.

• Snow Pea Shoots - You can find these in Chinese supermarkets in the fresh departments. They may not always be available all-year round but keep a look out, particularly in the Spring.
• Garlic - the complimentary flavouring to the sweet, grassy and fragrant pea shoots.
• Seasoning - Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine - this brings a light umami flavour to the shoots. Light soy sauce can also be used, but I like to add a little salt instead as the soy can often discolour the appearance which I like to keep nice and green.
• Peanut oil - for stir frying (you can use canola, sunflower or vegetable oil too).

Step by Step

Making this dish is so easy - just be sure to have a hot wok ready. This is often the last dish I'll make for a Chinese meal as it's really best when eaten as soon as possible from the wok.

1. Step 1 - Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat until hot. Add the garlic and stir for 5 seconds until fragrant.
2. Step 2 - Add all the snow pea shoots and stir for 30-40 seconds until wilted. Splash in the Shaoxing cooking wine and a little salt and stir well for about 15 seconds.
3. Step 3 - Remove from the heat, decant to a platter and serve immediately.

Substitutions & Serving

• Substitutions - Snow pea shoots are seasonal, and more available in the spring, but can be found all year round as some Asian supermarkets. For flavour use snow peas or sugar snap peas as they're identical in taste. The exact same quantities and timings are fine.
• Serving & Storing - Serve this stir fry right away. On this occasion I am firm that there should be no leftovers - they really lose all their magic when cold and become a little slimy. For that reason I don't recommend making in advance, keeping in the fridge of freezing. Sorry, just gobble them up and be done!

Ready to get cooking?

I'm so happy to be sharing this recipe with you. It's not a dish you see a lot of on Chinese menus, most likely due to the availability of snow pea shoots throughout the year, but it's a dish I always ask for (even if it's not on the menu!). Now that I can make the dish myself, whenever I spot them in the supermarket, I snap them up in a second! You will too once you discover their magic. Hope you enjoy!

More recipes

If you liked this super easy snow pea stir fry recipe, then why not give one or more of my other favourite Chinese recipes a try?

• Shantung Lamb Ribs
• Ginger Scallion Sauce
• Chicken Egg Foo Young
• Chinese Braised Pork Belly – Hong Shao Rou (Instant Pot Style)
• Pork Rib Soup with Noodles
• Chinese Oxtail Noodle Soup
• Chinese Chilli Oil Dumplings
• Chinese Xinjiang Lamb Skewers
• Hainan Chicken and Rice
• Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice Bowl)
• Chinese Eggplant

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