beansprout salad
(vegan)

recipe by m-c

just the recipe

what I was looking for

lunch

what I made

A variation on the Pea Tendril Salad in Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Beyond the Great Wall (p. 66, photo on p. 308). As usual, I use easier methods than the original authors'.

chit-chat

Do you have any pea vines back in the back?

"Pea vines"?

Yeah, pea vines.

Do you mean English peas?

No, pea vines. As in here's the pea, [swoopy gesture] here's the vine.

I never heard of such a thing.

You had them last week.

It must've been on my day off. I've been working produce 16 years, and I never heard of a, what do you call it? Pea thing? Do you mean sugar snap peas?

No, not sugar snaps, the vines of a, a, you know, the vines of a pea.

What is it?

Chinese people eat them.

Oh, hey, why didn't you tell me that, here they are.

No, not long beans, pea vines. Look, here's the shelf they were on, a big mess of lovely pea vines. I cleaned you out last week, today I want some more.

I'll have to call Michael. Maybe he knows about these pea, pea, "vines," you say?

Oh good, call Michael, I'm sure he'll know what I'm talking about.

Michael's not answering his phone.

Well, OK, I'm guessing you don't have any pea vines today.

Now you've got me curious. Pea ... vines? How do you cook them?

Nuke them in the microwave, just a very short time. Dress them with salad dressing, or serve them with rice and chopsticks, or cut them up and stuff ravioli with them, they're really delicious.

Learn something new every day in this job.

I know, isn't it wonderful, all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables in the world?

I'll have to keep an eye out for ...

[in unison] ... PEA VINES!

grades for my version

healthy	A	Best stuff in the world.
fast	B	Several different steps, not lightning fast.
easy	A	Quite.
cheap	A	All common vegetables where I live.
delicious	B	Very good. (With pea vines it might be compelling.)

yield

A healthy lunch for two (or two healthy lunches for one).

equipment

   a medium-sized bowl that you can put in the microwave
   a microwave
   a little bowl
   a small frying pan
   a pancake turner
   a whisk (or a fork)

the beansprouts

ingredients	A+D	m-c	why?
the stuff of the salad	1 pound of pea vines	1 pound of beansprouts	easier
leaves	---	½ cup of leftover cilantro leaves	healthier, cheaper [1], tastier
Notes
[1]	Cheaper in the sense that using up leftovers is always cheaper in the long run than throwing them away.

      Nuke the beansprouts and cilantro a tiny bit to take the harsh edge off the clean, metallic flavor of the sprouts and wilt the cilantro. 1 minute on HIGH in my microwave, perhaps longer or shorter in yours.

the salad dressing

ingredients	A+D	m-c	why?
rice vinegar	2 Tablespoons	2 Tablespoons [1]	no change
salt	1 teaspoon	to taste	no change
roasted sesame oil	1 teaspoon	1 teaspoon	no change
spiciness	1 small red cayenne chile	1 teaspoon red pepper flakes	easier
Notes
[1]	Be careful here -- there's more vinegar going into the dish down below. I love all things sour, so the double hit is fine for me, but it might not be for you.

   Put the dressing ingredients into your small bowl.

the final flourish

ingredients	A+D	m-c	why?
frying medium	2 Tablespoons peanut oil	1 Tablespoon peanut oil + 1 Tablespoon vinegar	cheaper, tastier [1]
shallots	½ cup sliced thin	½ cup sliced thin and separated	tastier [2]
Notes
[1]	Cheaper because I used leftover salad dressing from another dish ‑‑ and I love the way the vinegar reduces to a syrup.
[2]	Separating the shallot slices into little rings increases the surface area greatly, giving you more yummy caramelized flavor.

      Put the peanut oil and vinegar and the shallots into the cold frying pan, put the pan over a medium-low flame, and cook the shallots gently, stirring them up from time to time so that every last shallot piece gets exposed to the hot oil and the reduced vinegar.

   Whisk the salad dressing together, pour it onto the beansprouts and stir them up to get the whole mass fully dressed, slide the shallots out of the frying pan onto the sprouts, stir everything up one last time, put your napkin on your lap, and dig in. Of course you can eat directly out of the salad bowl, who's watching?

go-withs

I think a pork-filled bun would be ideal with this salad, but all I had on hand was two‑day‑old focaccia, so I toasted it and made do.

Questions? Comments? Corrections?
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