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How do you prep snow peas?

11 years ago

I love them, but it seems no matter what I do I end up with a certain amount of tough string in my meal. To overcome this I started by pinching the tip off with my fingers rather than with trimming with a knife, and then pull whatever string comes along with it down the straighter edge. Not enough. I've tried doing the same procedure from both ends. Not enough. Last night I took it to the extreme and pinched both ends of the peas, along both the flat edge and the rounded edge, but despite handling EACH PEA FOUR TIMES this way I still ended up with some stringiness. Surely there's a better way?

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Comments (5)

lindac
11 years ago
I start from the stem end and with a knife I cut to the "string" and pull it down the length of the pod.
Perhaps your peas are too long on the vine?
jadeite
11 years ago
I snap off the stem end and pull down whatever string there is. Sometimes it's only on one side, sometimes there are two. I never get stringy snow peas this way, unless they are old and fibrous. You can usually tell by how crisp they are when you snap the end. If they bend easily, they are older than they should be.

Cheryl
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triciae
11 years ago
Less than fresh would be my first guess. Snow peas are one of those veggies that don't keep well more than a few hours so by the time you get them in the store - they're old. Farmer's markets are a very good source for fresh snow peas. Also, there are "stringless" varieties available now.

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donna_loomis
11 years ago
Exactly what LindaC said. If you are growing them yourself, pick them sooner. Not much you can do if they are purchased.

When you cut at the stem end, be careful to just nick from the bottom (away from the edge where the strings are, and pull the rest of the tip off. You should get at least most of the strings that way.
foodonastump
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks - sounds like the issue is the quality/age of the peas. Not overly surprising.

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