Half Chinese New Year: Vegetable Course: Pea vines in garlic and duck broth

We served Pea vines at this year’s Half-Chinese Dinner to break the flavor of high heat. So far the dinner of duck, pork and beans all had ingredients that were best activated with elevated temperatures. The pea vines were meant to be a salad course of sorts — they are still cooked in a frighteningly hot wok but have a cool flavor.

Pea vines are young tendrils of sugar peas. Often, one has to pick them to remove the tough stalks— a tedious process when there are things burning on the stove. Try immersing the pea vines in cold water for a day ahead of time; they will expand in size and require less cooking.

One does not have to use duck broth. We had duck bones on hand and we made a broth as a matter of course (it’s a bit of a rule in our kitchen — boil all extra raw bones). Any poultry broth will suffice.

Cut:
Three cloves of minced garlic
Pick pea vines but leave them whole

Shake up in a glass jar:
Four tablespoons of broth
Two tablespoons of oyster sauce
Dash of soy
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper (white preferred)

Coat a hot wok with oil and add garlic to crisp.

Add pea vines and mix with garlic.

Add the sauce to create and explosion of steam.

Stir quickly and gently.

Add a touch of sesame oil.

Remove pea vines with haste.

Plate beans, garnish with sesame seeds: serve.