Yam Leaves

I popped into a produce store on Main Street today to buy some oranges and I saw a small display of deep green leaves packed into plastic bags. I was not familiar with these greens so I asked the store owner about them. She said they were yam leaves (I had read about yam leaves in some recipe I can't recall) and she suggested stirfrying the leaves with garlic and salt. Or treat them just like pea shoots (which Roland and I both love!).

I couldn't resist from trying something new. I washed the bag of greens and nipped off the very end of the thin stalk. I then minced 3 cloves of garlic with about 1/2" of fresh ginger. I heated about 1 Tbsp. oil in a hot wok, threw in the garlic-ginger mixture, then the greens. After a few tosses, I sprinkled with salt and the dish was done!

The yam leaves have a mild flavour similar to pea shoots but have the tender-crisp texture of water spinach (toong choy). Fabulous! Next time, I'll stirfry the greens with salted shrimp paste and shredded red chilis!