Pea Shoots (Dou Miao): What They Are, and How to Eat and Grow Them

Pea shoots are the young stems, leaves and tendrils of the pea plant. In Thailand they are best known by their Chinese name, dou miao (โต้วเหมี่ยว), and most people meet them stir-fried with garlic and oyster sauce. As a microgreen they are cut younger, at around ten days, when they are at their most tender and taste like fresh garden peas.

Microgreen pea shoots and market dou miao

They are the same plant at different stages. Dou miao sold at markets is often left to grow longer, with longer stems and more tendril. Cut as a microgreen, the shoot is shorter and more tender from top to bottom, so there is nothing to trim off before you eat it.

Can you eat pea shoots raw?

Yes. Pea shoots are one of the best microgreens to eat raw — sweet enough to eat by the handful and mild enough for children. Microgreens are grown in an open tray and cut above the medium, which is why they do not share the food-safety concerns of sprouts. See can you eat microgreens raw for the full explanation.

How to cook pea shoots

The rule is the same as for every microgreen: very hot and very fast. A slow cook turns the leaves to thread.

• Stir-fry with garlic and oyster sauce in a smoking-hot wok, for under a minute.
• Sauté lightly with garlic and sesame oil as a side.
• Add to fresh spring rolls for sweetness and crunch.
• Toss with a lemon dressing as a simple salad.
• Fold into pasta with ricotta, peas and mint.

How to grow pea shoots at home

Peas are one of the more forgiving seeds. Use whole dried peas sold for sprouting — never split peas, which cannot grow. The numbers below are for a standard 25×25cm tray.

• Soak 130–150g of seed in cool water for 8–12 hours, then drain and rinse.
• Spread the seed in a single layer on damp coco peat, cover, and weigh the tray down.
• Keep it covered for about three days, misting daily, until the shoots lift the cover.
• Move it into bright, indirect light and water from below.
• Cut from about day 10 to day 14, above the lowest leaf node.

If you cut above a node and leave it in the tray, a pea tray can give a second, smaller cut. For the method every variety shares, see our guide to growing microgreens at home, and for choosing seed, how to choose seeds for microgreens.

Buying pea shoots

We grow pea shoots when we can, cut to order. Check the pea shoots page for current availability. When they are not available, sunflower microgreens are the closest match for a stir-fry, with a nutty sweetness of their own.