Eat local, they say. It’s good for the environment, the community, and your health. Great. So you go to the first week of the nearest farmer’s market, all set to stock up on good-conscious food and you find …
Pea shoots.
Claverach Farm and Vineyard in Eureka specializes in pea shoots and other “microgreens” – the shoots of plants that are harvested when they’re a few inches high. Left unharvested, these shoots would grow into pea plants.
I’ve been getting pea shoots through Fair Shares, a St. Louis-based combined CSA (and one of the best resources for local chow) off and on for a year. They intimidate the hell out of me. Usually I trade them for something else or let them languish in my fridge.
If harvested and left in the fridge for a month, pea shoots do not grow into pea plants. The morph into stringy black pea sludge.
Not that there aren’t eight bazillion trendy-ass pea shoot recipes out there. Well, 26 recipes. Still. I am stubborn. I didn’t spend a year and a half in culinary school only to have to turn to recipes to figure out what to do with some new plant that’s been suddenly deemed edible.
Last week, we had a pea shoot showdown in my kitchen and let me tell you, I kicked some pea shoot ass.
Turns out that, when cooked, pea shoots have the aroma and flavor not of peas, but peanuts. Thai stir fry time!
Thai Pork Noodle Bowl with Pea Shoots and Spinach
1 pound pork loin, thinly-sliced and bite-size* (or firm tofu, if you swing that way)
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup lime juice
7 cloves garlic, minced**
Tiny green chiles, minced ***
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger**
1 tablespoon honey***
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro***
1 tablespoon canola or peanut oil
2 or 3 fistfuls pea shoots ****
3 cups spinach, chopped*****
2 cups spaghetti, cooked ******
- Combine pork, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, chiles, honey, cilantro and ginger in a container with a lid. Let sit one hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat oil in wok or large skillet until it’s so hot you’re terrified of it. But not so hot that it’s on fire. Remove pork from marinade and fry in two batches until cooked through. Add marinade and all of the pork. Bring to a boil. Turn off the burner.
- Gradually stir in pea shoots and spinach, stirring until slightly wilted. Stir in noodles.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves and cruhed peanuts, if you’re feeling fancy.
Serves 4 (and makes for really yummy leftovers, especially around 1 a.m.)
*Available locally through Hinkebein Hill Farm, who sell their humanely-raised, flu-free pork products at Maplewood Farmers Market. Rensings Pork and Beef takes orders every other week and delivers to Oregon Trail Coffee Roasters in Belleville. Email ensingsporkandbeef@gmail.com for prices
**It’s a little early for garlic, but Our Garden from New Florence, Missouri, usually has it by June at the Maplewood and Tower Grove Farmer’s Markets. Personally, I buy mine from a woman who sells it out of her garage on highway 159 in Swansea, Illinois. Our Garden occasionally has fresh ginger.
***Damn near all the farmer’s markets in the area will have cilantro, peppers, and honey. Eating local honey can help ease pollen allergies.
****Where to get the pea shoots? Maplewood Farmer’s Market, Fair Shares, and Local Harvest.
*****Spianch is abundant right now at all the farmer’s markets. Local Harvest probably has it, too.
******The regular stuff works, but if you want to stay local, use the fresh egg vermicelli from Mangia Italiano. They will destroy you with awesome.
I was thinking Pea Shoots were similar to a Meat Shoot, like they have at the good ‘ol Elks Lodges. Picturing you, poised with a shotgun aiming at tiny, tiny plants…
Maybe that’s the 27th recipe: Pea Shoot Massacre.
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That would be less cruel than the horrible neglect-related deaths the pea shoots have suffered in my fridge.
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Claverach’s shoots are damn near pristine. Their produce is top notch.
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I had no idea about the honey! It seems as though I’ve finally developed the St. Louis allergies, so I will be stocking up on St. Louis honey!
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I’ve just chopped them up and dealt with them like a lettuce in salad. Here’s one I came up with:
Peach salad: marinate sliced peaches in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and a bit of cayenne. Toss with pea shoots, mint, and sliced prosciutto. Drizzle with marinade.
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Deborah, that sound fantastic!
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I love this, I honestly had no idea there were so many farmer’s markets. I suddenly feel food sheltered… and have an urge for #23.03 at Pho Grand… with extra curry. Why Thai food makes me crave Vietnamese food is a question that may never be answered…
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[...] for the radish sprouts, their flavor’s entirely different from the pea shoots I used a few weeks ago. They taste like, well, radishes. Except not nearly as overpowering. Mixed with the rest of the [...]
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