Eating sugar snaps

[ksia]

Hi,

How/when do you eat them?
At the minute I'm having them flat like mange tout but aren't they meant to get fat? And do you eat it all when fat? Do they get 'stringy'?

thanks
Karen

[ksia]

[euronerd]

Hi ksia. From personal experience only, I do the same as you, and when they start to get stringy, which seems to be soon after they start to get fat, shell them and eat the peas inside. You can tell if it's stringy by snapping the end off. If it snaps off cleanly, no string. I haven't planted any this year because you can do exactly the the same with normal peas when they're very young. Gently feel the pod, and if it's soft and velvety, it won't be stringy.
If I don't eat them straight from the plant, I either sauté them or have them as an ingredient in a stir fry. A favourite in this house is something I call 'rice with bits in', which is just a selection of any veg that happens to be around, chopped if you want, sautéed briefly, then some pre-cooked rice added and the whole lot stirred and used as an accompaniment to some piece of meat like a chop or steak. I occasionally steam them if I'm in traditional mode, for about five minutes, up to 10 depending on your preference in textures.

Geoff.

[katynewbie]

 ;D

Oh yes, "rice with bits in" closely related to "pasta with bits in"...staple diets in this house!

;)

[supersprout]

Oh yes, "rice with bits in" closely related to "pasta with bits in"...staple diets in this house!

With 'splat' (any sloppy sauce)? Staple in ours ;D ;D ;D

[tim]

All that, & snaps get fuller than mange tout - which don't snap!