Ok, so I bought a bag of shoots at the Asian market and sauted in peanut oil
with some chopped garlic. It was ok, but didn't taste exactally like the shoots
I get at the Chinese restaurants.

So how do people prepare this? What am I missing?

--
Dan

I just wash the peashoots in a colander & drain, heat up my wok until
smoking, add veg. oil, throw in some minced garlic & salt to release the
flavours(do not burn) or until fragrant, throw the contents of my colander
into the wok & start tossing until wilted & cooked, less then a minute.
Serve & eat. I find that there's just enough water (from washing it) to
prevent it from burning or over cooking. It's as simple as that, you don't
need to over complicate this delicate dish as it's the sweetness of the
young leaves/shoots that you want to taste. Some restaurants add a little
stock to give it more flavour but i don't. Have a look at your restaurant's
version the next time to see if it's 'wetter' or has a slight gravy to it. I
wouldn't use sesame oil as well as that's too strong tasting & smelling for
this delicate dish. Pea shoots(Dao Miu) is a seasonal veg & dish normally
found during autumn & spring as the weather is cooler & conducive to growing
tender young & naturally sweet tasting shoots. In the summer, the shoots are
tougher & not as sweet tasting. So make the most of it & don't over
complicate it. hope this helps.

DC.




"Dan Logcher" wrote in message
...
Ok, so I bought a bag of shoots at the Asian market and sauted in peanut
oil
with some chopped garlic. It was ok, but didn't taste exactally like the
shoots
I get at the Chinese restaurants.

So how do people prepare this? What am I missing?

--
Dan

I just wash the peashoots in a colander & drain, heat up my wok until
smoking, add veg. oil, throw in some minced garlic & salt to release the
flavours(do not burn) or until fragrant, throw the contents of my colander
into the wok & start tossing until wilted & cooked, less then a minute.
Serve & eat. I find that there's just enough water (from washing it) to
prevent it from burning or over cooking. It's as simple as that, you don't
need to over complicate this delicate dish as it's the sweetness of the
young leaves/shoots that you want to taste. Some restaurants add a little
stock to give it more flavour but i don't. Have a look at your restaurant's
version the next time to see if it's 'wetter' or has a slight gravy to it. I
wouldn't use sesame oil as well as that's too strong tasting & smelling for
this delicate dish. Pea shoots(Dao Miu) is a seasonal veg & dish normally
found during autumn & spring as the weather is cooler & conducive to growing
tender young & naturally sweet tasting shoots. In the summer, the shoots are
tougher & not as sweet tasting. So make the most of it & don't over
complicate it. hope this helps.

DC.




"Dan Logcher" wrote in message
...
Ok, so I bought a bag of shoots at the Asian market and sauted in peanut
oil
with some chopped garlic. It was ok, but didn't taste exactally like the
shoots
I get at the Chinese restaurants.

So how do people prepare this? What am I missing?

--
Dan

DC. wrote:

I just wash the peashoots in a colander & drain, heat up my wok until
smoking, add veg. oil, throw in some minced garlic & salt to release the
flavours(do not burn) or until fragrant, throw the contents of my colander
into the wok & start tossing until wilted & cooked, less then a minute.
Serve & eat. I find that there's just enough water (from washing it) to
prevent it from burning or over cooking. It's as simple as that, you don't
need to over complicate this delicate dish as it's the sweetness of the
young leaves/shoots that you want to taste. Some restaurants add a little
stock to give it more flavour but i don't. Have a look at your restaurant's
version the next time to see if it's 'wetter' or has a slight gravy to it. I
wouldn't use sesame oil as well as that's too strong tasting & smelling for
this delicate dish. Pea shoots(Dao Miu) is a seasonal veg & dish normally
found during autumn & spring as the weather is cooler & conducive to growing
tender young & naturally sweet tasting shoots. In the summer, the shoots are
tougher & not as sweet tasting. So make the most of it & don't over
complicate it. hope this helps.

Ok, the only thing I didn't do is add the salt.. until after. I think what
I may be missing is using lard instead of cooking oil. I used peanut.
It was good, but lacked a flavor that I couldn't pinpoint. I may ask one
of the restaurants how they make it.. if they will tell me.

--
Dan

It's up to you but in my opinion, lard is not used in veg. dishes like these
or Yao Choi as the Cantonese call it. Like i say, sometimes 1/2 a laddle of
stock is added if the veg is dry to begin with, this is added towards the
end of the fry to moisten & also get a fry & steam effect, this will wilt &
cook the veg faster. But as young tender pea shoots are so delicate, they
don't need much heat for it to wilt down. Salt garlic & oil is all you need
for this simple dish. But if the version you've had seem to taste a lot
more, maybe you've had a 'souped up' version (i.e. more flavours added &
nothing to do with soup : ), i don't know, we've always had the simple basic
version at home as well as in restaurants.

DC.



"Dan Logcher" wrote in message
...
DC. wrote:

I just wash the peashoots in a colander & drain, heat up my wok until
smoking, add veg. oil, throw in some minced garlic & salt to release the
flavours(do not burn) or until fragrant, throw the contents of my
colander
into the wok & start tossing until wilted & cooked, less then a minute.
Serve & eat. I find that there's just enough water (from washing it) to
prevent it from burning or over cooking. It's as simple as that, you
don't
need to over complicate this delicate dish as it's the sweetness of the
young leaves/shoots that you want to taste. Some restaurants add a
little
stock to give it more flavour but i don't. Have a look at your
restaurant's
version the next time to see if it's 'wetter' or has a slight gravy to
it. I
wouldn't use sesame oil as well as that's too strong tasting & smelling
for
this delicate dish. Pea shoots(Dao Miu) is a seasonal veg & dish
normally
found during autumn & spring as the weather is cooler & conducive to
growing
tender young & naturally sweet tasting shoots. In the summer, the shoots
are
tougher & not as sweet tasting. So make the most of it & don't over
complicate it. hope this helps.

Ok, the only thing I didn't do is add the salt.. until after. I think
what
I may be missing is using lard instead of cooking oil. I used peanut.
It was good, but lacked a flavor that I couldn't pinpoint. I may ask one
of the restaurants how they make it.. if they will tell me.

--
Dan

It's up to you but in my opinion, lard is not used in veg. dishes like these
or Yao Choi as the Cantonese call it. Like i say, sometimes 1/2 a laddle of
stock is added if the veg is dry to begin with, this is added towards the
end of the fry to moisten & also get a fry & steam effect, this will wilt &
cook the veg faster. But as young tender pea shoots are so delicate, they
don't need much heat for it to wilt down. Salt garlic & oil is all you need
for this simple dish. But if the version you've had seem to taste a lot
more, maybe you've had a 'souped up' version (i.e. more flavours added &
nothing to do with soup : ), i don't know, we've always had the simple basic
version at home as well as in restaurants.

DC.



"Dan Logcher" wrote in message
...
DC. wrote:

I just wash the peashoots in a colander & drain, heat up my wok until
smoking, add veg. oil, throw in some minced garlic & salt to release the
flavours(do not burn) or until fragrant, throw the contents of my
colander
into the wok & start tossing until wilted & cooked, less then a minute.
Serve & eat. I find that there's just enough water (from washing it) to
prevent it from burning or over cooking. It's as simple as that, you
don't
need to over complicate this delicate dish as it's the sweetness of the
young leaves/shoots that you want to taste. Some restaurants add a
little
stock to give it more flavour but i don't. Have a look at your
restaurant's
version the next time to see if it's 'wetter' or has a slight gravy to
it. I
wouldn't use sesame oil as well as that's too strong tasting & smelling
for
this delicate dish. Pea shoots(Dao Miu) is a seasonal veg & dish
normally
found during autumn & spring as the weather is cooler & conducive to
growing
tender young & naturally sweet tasting shoots. In the summer, the shoots
are
tougher & not as sweet tasting. So make the most of it & don't over
complicate it. hope this helps.

Ok, the only thing I didn't do is add the salt.. until after. I think
what
I may be missing is using lard instead of cooking oil. I used peanut.
It was good, but lacked a flavor that I couldn't pinpoint. I may ask one
of the restaurants how they make it.. if they will tell me.

--
Dan

DC. wrote:

It's up to you but in my opinion, lard is not used in veg. dishes like these
or Yao Choi as the Cantonese call it. Like i say, sometimes 1/2 a laddle of
stock is added if the veg is dry to begin with, this is added towards the
end of the fry to moisten & also get a fry & steam effect, this will wilt &
cook the veg faster. But as young tender pea shoots are so delicate, they
don't need much heat for it to wilt down. Salt garlic & oil is all you need
for this simple dish. But if the version you've had seem to taste a lot
more, maybe you've had a 'souped up' version (i.e. more flavours added &
nothing to do with soup : ), i don't know, we've always had the simple basic
version at home as well as in restaurants.

Maybe the stock is what was missing.. I rinsed it off and threw it in the
salad spinner to get off and leftover grit.. I did add a touch of water to
keep it from burning.. stock would have added a bit of flavor and salt.

Thanks. I'll try that next time. So how long do the shoots last before
they are gone for the season?

--
Dan

DC. wrote:

It's up to you but in my opinion, lard is not used in veg. dishes like these
or Yao Choi as the Cantonese call it. Like i say, sometimes 1/2 a laddle of
stock is added if the veg is dry to begin with, this is added towards the
end of the fry to moisten & also get a fry & steam effect, this will wilt &
cook the veg faster. But as young tender pea shoots are so delicate, they
don't need much heat for it to wilt down. Salt garlic & oil is all you need
for this simple dish. But if the version you've had seem to taste a lot
more, maybe you've had a 'souped up' version (i.e. more flavours added &
nothing to do with soup : ), i don't know, we've always had the simple basic
version at home as well as in restaurants.

Maybe the stock is what was missing.. I rinsed it off and threw it in the
salad spinner to get off and leftover grit.. I did add a touch of water to
keep it from burning.. stock would have added a bit of flavor and salt.

Thanks. I'll try that next time. So how long do the shoots last before
they are gone for the season?

--
Dan

I bought a large bag last weekend, kept it in the fridge & made a small
portion for dinner every few days, just finished the last of it a few nights
ago. Oh... sorry, didn't read your question properly, until it snows heavily
or the weather gets too cold for it(frost damage). But these days, you can
get it from late Oct. or Nov through to March or April the latest in London.
They're quite hardy plants as i think they're the winter variety of peas.
I'm sure they grow them under protection these days as well to gaurantee a
continued supply. I don't know about the States. Ask the Hmong farmers as i
think they're the people who grow them best over where you are.

I see, you use one of them salad spinning things, i just put them in a
colander & wash under a running tap of cold water, bang the colander a few
times to get rid of the water, obviously there's still a bit left on the
leaves, fire up the wok & fry. I usually get all the food out & rice dished
up before i do this as it only takes a minute to cook this, so it arrives
hot at the table & is usually the first dish to go empty as it's so simple &
delicious. We can't get enough of it. I've even tried growing some but not
much success, the two 3 metre trellis i had a few winters ago were all
plucked & finished in one meal alone! god knows how much you need to keep
the restaurants & supermarkets supplied. Btw... we pay £6-£8 for a bag of
around 500g, that's mighty expensive but it's a winter treat & i don't mind
paying the money for them. If you ever get the chance to go rural China when
the weather is cool, you'll see that most farmer families eat rice with
about 5-8 dishes of simple veg. like this & maybe just 1 dish of meat. My
eyes popped & mouth salivated... they couldn't work out why & thought i was
very odd, as they were a bit embarrassed for not providing more meat for me
which was expensive for them.

DC.


"Dan Logcher" wrote in message
...
DC. wrote:

It's up to you but in my opinion, lard is not used in veg. dishes like
these
or Yao Choi as the Cantonese call it. Like i say, sometimes 1/2 a laddle
of
stock is added if the veg is dry to begin with, this is added towards
the
end of the fry to moisten & also get a fry & steam effect, this will
wilt &
cook the veg faster. But as young tender pea shoots are so delicate,
they
don't need much heat for it to wilt down. Salt garlic & oil is all you
need
for this simple dish. But if the version you've had seem to taste a lot
more, maybe you've had a 'souped up' version (i.e. more flavours added &
nothing to do with soup : ), i don't know, we've always had the simple
basic
version at home as well as in restaurants.

Maybe the stock is what was missing.. I rinsed it off and threw it in the
salad spinner to get off and leftover grit.. I did add a touch of water to
keep it from burning.. stock would have added a bit of flavor and salt.

Thanks. I'll try that next time. So how long do the shoots last before
they are gone for the season?

--
Dan

I bought a large bag last weekend, kept it in the fridge & made a small
portion for dinner every few days, just finished the last of it a few nights
ago. Oh... sorry, didn't read your question properly, until it snows heavily
or the weather gets too cold for it(frost damage). But these days, you can
get it from late Oct. or Nov through to March or April the latest in London.
They're quite hardy plants as i think they're the winter variety of peas.
I'm sure they grow them under protection these days as well to gaurantee a
continued supply. I don't know about the States. Ask the Hmong farmers as i
think they're the people who grow them best over where you are.

I see, you use one of them salad spinning things, i just put them in a
colander & wash under a running tap of cold water, bang the colander a few
times to get rid of the water, obviously there's still a bit left on the
leaves, fire up the wok & fry. I usually get all the food out & rice dished
up before i do this as it only takes a minute to cook this, so it arrives
hot at the table & is usually the first dish to go empty as it's so simple &
delicious. We can't get enough of it. I've even tried growing some but not
much success, the two 3 metre trellis i had a few winters ago were all
plucked & finished in one meal alone! god knows how much you need to keep
the restaurants & supermarkets supplied. Btw... we pay £6-£8 for a bag of
around 500g, that's mighty expensive but it's a winter treat & i don't mind
paying the money for them. If you ever get the chance to go rural China when
the weather is cool, you'll see that most farmer families eat rice with
about 5-8 dishes of simple veg. like this & maybe just 1 dish of meat. My
eyes popped & mouth salivated... they couldn't work out why & thought i was
very odd, as they were a bit embarrassed for not providing more meat for me
which was expensive for them.

DC.


"Dan Logcher" wrote in message
...
DC. wrote:

It's up to you but in my opinion, lard is not used in veg. dishes like
these
or Yao Choi as the Cantonese call it. Like i say, sometimes 1/2 a laddle
of
stock is added if the veg is dry to begin with, this is added towards
the
end of the fry to moisten & also get a fry & steam effect, this will
wilt &
cook the veg faster. But as young tender pea shoots are so delicate,
they
don't need much heat for it to wilt down. Salt garlic & oil is all you
need
for this simple dish. But if the version you've had seem to taste a lot
more, maybe you've had a 'souped up' version (i.e. more flavours added &
nothing to do with soup : ), i don't know, we've always had the simple
basic
version at home as well as in restaurants.

Maybe the stock is what was missing.. I rinsed it off and threw it in the
salad spinner to get off and leftover grit.. I did add a touch of water to
keep it from burning.. stock would have added a bit of flavor and salt.

Thanks. I'll try that next time. So how long do the shoots last before
they are gone for the season?

--
Dan

DC. wrote:

Oh... sorry, didn't read your question properly, until it snows heavily
or the weather gets too cold for it(frost damage). But these days, you can
get it from late Oct. or Nov through to March or April the latest in London.
They're quite hardy plants as i think they're the winter variety of peas.
I'm sure they grow them under protection these days as well to gaurantee a
continued supply. I don't know about the States. Ask the Hmong farmers as i
think they're the people who grow them best over where you are.


Oh good, so I should expect to see them well into the new year.


Btw... we pay £6-£8 for a bag of around 500g, that's mighty expensive but

it's a winter treat & i don't mind paying the money for them.


I paid $4.59US for large bag just bigger than a basketball. I used move than
half last night, which made enough for 3 servings.. two of which I ate.

If you ever get the chance to go rural China when
the weather is cool, you'll see that most farmer families eat rice with
about 5-8 dishes of simple veg. like this & maybe just 1 dish of meat. My
eyes popped & mouth salivated... they couldn't work out why & thought i was
very odd, as they were a bit embarrassed for not providing more meat for me
which was expensive for them.

I would love to, but I don't see that happening for some time. My wife does have
some distant family in Canton region, I think.

--
Dan

DC. wrote:

Oh... sorry, didn't read your question properly, until it snows heavily
or the weather gets too cold for it(frost damage). But these days, you can
get it from late Oct. or Nov through to March or April the latest in London.
They're quite hardy plants as i think they're the winter variety of peas.
I'm sure they grow them under protection these days as well to gaurantee a
continued supply. I don't know about the States. Ask the Hmong farmers as i
think they're the people who grow them best over where you are.


Oh good, so I should expect to see them well into the new year.


Btw... we pay £6-£8 for a bag of around 500g, that's mighty expensive but

it's a winter treat & i don't mind paying the money for them.


I paid $4.59US for large bag just bigger than a basketball. I used move than
half last night, which made enough for 3 servings.. two of which I ate.

If you ever get the chance to go rural China when
the weather is cool, you'll see that most farmer families eat rice with
about 5-8 dishes of simple veg. like this & maybe just 1 dish of meat. My
eyes popped & mouth salivated... they couldn't work out why & thought i was
very odd, as they were a bit embarrassed for not providing more meat for me
which was expensive for them.

I would love to, but I don't see that happening for some time. My wife does have
some distant family in Canton region, I think.

--
Dan

snip
Oh good, so I should expect to see them well into the new year.

I might be mistaken but i think over in the States, the Hmong farmers grow
them all year round? i've read a few articles (LA Times etc.) on the farmers
& also here in a discussion about pea shoots & the impression i got was that
it was available most times, i didn't see any indication that it was
seasonal in the States. I know for a fact that over here in the UK, it's
seasonal as i keep asking when they're coming in.

I paid $4.59US for large bag just bigger than a basketball. I used move
than
half last night, which made enough for 3 servings.. two of which I ate.

That's about the same size i get mine but maybe our UK basketballs are
smaller Heeheee : ) still plenty cheap for 5bucks! and too right you should
be eating 2 servings of it. Over here i'm such a... grouch, i always insists
on leaving a last spoonfull & make sure it's the last bite of a meal so i
can savour it a little longer.

I would love to, but I don't see that happening for some time. My wife
does have
some distant family in Canton region, I think.

Hey better get a move on before they flatten every bit of Southern China &
industrialize it, the way things are going... it's going to be one huge
concrete jungle in no time. They're running out of elect. & they're the
biggest importer of steel for the last few years. The next time you have a
powercut... you know who's sucking up the energy.

DC.

snip
Oh good, so I should expect to see them well into the new year.

I might be mistaken but i think over in the States, the Hmong farmers grow
them all year round? i've read a few articles (LA Times etc.) on the farmers
& also here in a discussion about pea shoots & the impression i got was that
it was available most times, i didn't see any indication that it was
seasonal in the States. I know for a fact that over here in the UK, it's
seasonal as i keep asking when they're coming in.

I paid $4.59US for large bag just bigger than a basketball. I used move
than
half last night, which made enough for 3 servings.. two of which I ate.

That's about the same size i get mine but maybe our UK basketballs are
smaller Heeheee : ) still plenty cheap for 5bucks! and too right you should
be eating 2 servings of it. Over here i'm such a... grouch, i always insists
on leaving a last spoonfull & make sure it's the last bite of a meal so i
can savour it a little longer.

I would love to, but I don't see that happening for some time. My wife
does have
some distant family in Canton region, I think.

Hey better get a move on before they flatten every bit of Southern China &
industrialize it, the way things are going... it's going to be one huge
concrete jungle in no time. They're running out of elect. & they're the
biggest importer of steel for the last few years. The next time you have a
powercut... you know who's sucking up the energy.

DC.

DC. wrote:

snip
That's about the same size i get mine but maybe our UK basketballs are
smaller Heeheee : ) still plenty cheap for 5bucks! and too right you should
be eating 2 servings of it. Over here i'm such a... grouch, i always insists
on leaving a last spoonfull & make sure it's the last bite of a meal so i
can savour it a little longer.


It costs us $12-$15 to get a heaping plate in the restaurants. So $5 to make
at home is pretty good.

Hey better get a move on before they flatten every bit of Southern China &
industrialize it, the way things are going... it's going to be one huge
concrete jungle in no time. They're running out of elect. & they're the
biggest importer of steel for the last few years. The next time you have a
powercut... you know who's sucking up the energy.

Not likely I'll get there for another 10 years. Oh well. Maybe the northern
areas will still be untouched.

--
Dan