Pea Shoots

When I dine at restaurants, I like to order things I can’t cook myself. And since I don’t know how to cook many things, I usually have a lot of menu options. An exception to this little rule of mine at Asian restaurants is vegetables. I rarely order stand-alone vegetable dishes because Asian greens are one of the handful of things I can cook relatively and consistently well.

But I have an exception to this exception. (I never said I was normal, did I?)

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Pea shoots. When properly cooked, this vegetable is tender, naturally sweet, and delicately pea flavored. I usually eat pea shoots sautéed with garlic at Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants. It’s delicious, one of my favorite vegetables.

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But I’ve also eaten pea shoots that were tough and stringy…at my own hands.

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Okinawan Sweet Potatoes

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These Okinawan Sweet Potatoes looks nondescript, right? Wrong.

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Indian Eggplant, Sauce For Spicy Garlic Egg-plant

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There is one surefire thing that sets me in a slight panic, and that is being asked to participate in a potluck. See, I’m definitely an eater, but I’m not much of a uh, cooker. And the thought of someone, other than a small group of relatives and friends, eating my cooking sets my heart racing, and not in a good way. But Internet, I don’t know what it is about you. You’ve got me telling you things I’ve told few, if any, others.

But rather than just confessing another bit of nonsense to you today (wait, I just did that), I’m going to show you something I’ve never showed anyone before—a photo I took…of something I cooked. Gulp.

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Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli)

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I have a theory about gai lan: It’s so bitter, even bugs stay away from it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single bug on any gai lan I’ve purchased. (If they were there, they were camouflaged really well. Of course I washed the gai lan before cooking…bugs are nutritious, right? Right?!?!)

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Shanghai Baby Bok Choy

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Rather than tell you again how I like to cook Asian greens, I’m just going to link to another blogger who actually knows what they’re doing when they’re cooking. Jude at Apple Pie, Patis, & Pâté has a a yummy-looking recipe for this vegetable, Simple Stir-Fry: Shanghai Bok Choy.

While I’m not as competent as Jude in the kitchen, I can do one ‘fancy’ trick with this and other similar vegetables.

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