Thursday, January 05, 2012

Peashoots and Gojiberries Chicken Soup -豆苗枸杞子鸡汤

The sun has not been co-operating and I have been waking up to foggy days. That is not motivating especially for a food blogger who needs natural daylight to help her with her photos. Hmmm...I should not be starting off the new year with complaints. Sorry.

Instead, I should begin with the big bag of pea sprouts/pea shoots - 豆苗 (Dou Miao in Mandarin) I recently bought from Japanese supermarket - Mitsuwa Marketplace. The pea sprouts just look so fresh, clean, and tender, I could not resist. An intended lunch trip to savor Santouka ramen @ Mitsuwa, turn to a grocery shopping trip, yet again. So predictable!


Pea Shoots/Pea Sprouts (the leaves of the traditional garden pea plant) is a nutrition powerhouse - a rich source of Vitamin A, C and Folic Acid (Source: Peashoots.com). They are usually used in salads or as garnish; and a common practice to stir-fry them in Chinese cooking.

Pea Shoots when fibrous can be hard to chew and digest. Imagine biting/chew grass. But these pea shoots in my recent purchase is definitely not. With no intention to cook them for too long (and lose the precious vitamins), I added them after cooking (turning off the heat) chicken soup and allow the heat to wilt and lightly cook the shoots. Yes, you do get the chlorophyll after-taste (quite typical in sprouted beans/peas) in this Pea Sprouts and Gojiberries Chicken Soup -豆苗枸杞子鸡汤 but that is not too over-powering.



Sharing this Easy Pea(sy) Sprouts Chicken Soup with Gojiberries with Souper Sunday.

Since pea sprouts cook relatively quick, it is a good way to use them as a fresh ingredient (veggie) to freshen up leftover chicken soup. Ha, that is what I did. Reheat the leftover chicken soup and add pea sprouts after turning off the heat. A new soup is born!

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