Snow Peas

Find

Snow peas are easiest to find at Asian grocery stores, but are usually fairly common at well-stocked general grocery stores.

Choose

Look for vibrant, light emerald green pods. While it isn’t uncommon for snow peas top have small pale ‘checks’ along the surfaces of the pods, you want to try to avoid pods that are heavily marked or damaged looking. Avoid old, dry snow peas, which often crack and fray around the ends of the pods.

Prep

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate - Wash thoroughly, then snap off any stalks at the base of the pods. Many people also pinch off the hooked tip at the end of the pods in order to peel off the stringy fibers along the seams of the pod (see 'Need More Details?' below).

Use

Can be eaten raw or cooked. Snow peas generally benefit from fairly light cooking, which allows them to retain their colour, flavour, and texture.

Store

Short Term: Refrigerate (unwashed, 3-5 days in a breathable plastic bag in the crisper)
Long Term: Wash and thoroughly dry, then freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 year.

Flavour Profile

Mild/Sweet/Green - Snow peas taste... well, like peas. They have much of the same distinctive, moderately sweet pea flavour, though with an added leafy-green vegetable aspect.

Substitutions

Snap peas and snow peas can be used more-or-less interchangeably.

Cuisines

Sometimes used raw in salads, but most popular as a cooked (and especially as a flash-cooked or stir-fried) vegetable. Though not unique to East Asian food, snow peas nonetheless appear quite frequently in East Asian and Asian-inspired dishes.

Flavour Pairings

Distinctive yet relatively mild, snow peas work well with a variety of foods. Their bright but mild flavour makes them popular in seafood dishes and alongside other vegetables. Snow peas work quite nicely with texturally similar vegetables (carrots, water chestnuts, and lotus roots are excellent examples).

Varieties

While there are multiple snow pea varieties available to home gardeners, commercial snow peas tend to be fairly homogeneous.

Nutrition

Top-To-Tail

In addition to the pods, the young green leaves and shoots are also edible (and delicious). For more on those, click here. Pea flowers are also edible, but make sure you're eating true pea (Pisum sativum) and not sweet pea (see Top-to-Tail note below for more information).

GMO Status

There are no GM or gene-edited snow peas in the human food supply.

Health & Science

- Exceptionally healthy and and fairly nutrient-dense
- Peas and their relatives are extremely commonly used a variety of agricultural settings for their ability to fix nitrogen in the soil. Bacterial associations with pea plant roots draw nitrogen from the air and convert it to a source that can be used by plants. This valuable ability can ‘recharge’ the nitrogen content of soil, thereby reducing the demand for fertilizers.

Organic vs. Conventional

Conventionally grown snow peas are generally much easier to find than organic, though organic peas are available. Conventionally grown snow and snap peas have been flagged by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) for having fairly high pesticide residues.