It’s difficult to improve upon a sugar snap pea. It’s nature’s candy: green, crunchy, juicy. It’s interactive: you peel away the thread and then throw it in your mouth. This spring, I became a sugar snap pea junkie–buying moundfuls at the farmer’s market and snacking on them all afternoon. The few times I cooked them, I sauteed them in olive oil or butter, sprinkled them with salt, a few grindings of pepper and called it a day. Sugar snap peas, like Lauren Ambrose, say, don’t need much enhancement. They’re beautiful as they are.
What’s a genius chef to do, then, to improve on something that needs little improvement? Enter David Chang. At Momofuku (the original) he’s serving a sugar snap pea appetizer that works beautifully. The peas are sauteed in miso butter (note the tan-colored pool at the bottom of the plate); topped with fresh grated horseradish and then thin slivers of radish. All of these components serve to enhance the sugar snap peas in ways, like good drama, that are both surprising and inevitable. In fact, I’d argue that this simple dish, a dish that doesn’t call too much attention to itself, showcases Chang’s talent in ways that his more elaborate dishes might not. It’s simple, it’s smart, and it’s seasonal. And it makes sugar snap peas taste better than they normally do which, at least according to this sugar snap pea enthusiast, is a feat worth celebrating.
I made a dish very similar to this on Sunday night — I sauteed radish slices and sugar snap peas in butter, added a dash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar and then served it over salad greens and sprinkled goat cheese on top. It was really unbelievably good — amazing what you can do with a few simple ingredients.
I made a dish very similar to this on Sunday night — I sauteed radish slices and sugar snap peas in butter, added a dash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar and then served it over salad greens and sprinkled goat cheese on top. It was really unbelievably good — amazing what you can do with a few simple ingredients.
Mmmm… miso butter….i think he used this for aspargus too cause when i googled miso butter up popped his recipe with asparagus…but the miso butter sounds very good…kind of like the little black dress that go everywhere …
I haven’t yet climbed aboard the sugar snap pea bandwagon, but perhaps it’s about time. And oh, miso butter? Swoon!
When I was back home in Kentucky this past Spring we had lots of snap peas around so I did them up in some butter in a hot pan and then just when they were starting to glow bright green I hit them with some fresh shredded mint and let them go for another 30 seconds. It was the best thing I made that whole week.
All we are saying is “Give peas a chance.”
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I love momofukus. Snap snap peas are only the beginning there.