Peas don’t necessarily have to be fried, of course, they are just as good in soup – but this recipe is also the one that best shows why it is necessary to find peas other than sweet ones: If you use fresh and flavorful peas, the soup will be flavorful; if you take sugar peas, it tastes awfully like an attempt at making a pork-infused pudding.
All that’s needed, again making this less of a recipe than a cooking idea, is
- 1 cup of peas (“cup” again meaning as many as you want)
- 1/4-1/2 cup of pork
- green chilli, chopped
- ginger and/or garlic, if desired
- 2 cups or more of water
- salt
- a little oil
Start by heating up the oil in a wok (or pot) and frying the pork. Rendered fat is good for flavor, but just try to not take so much oil to begin with that it all becomes too much.
As the meat starts to brown, add the chilli (and garlic and/or ginger) and fry for a bit.
Add peas, stir, and add the water.
Let simmer for a bit until the peas are done, then salt to taste.
Serve.
As always, you can vary quite a bit here, using more or fewer of just about all the ingredients.
The recipe just does use green chilli, not red, again preferably Chinese, longer, slender varieties of only middling heat, definitely nothing too hot, let alone varieties of different kinds (though opinions and likes regarding heat level vary with the chilli and the cook…).
Just remember that this should end up a soup, so add enough water ;)