Sugar snap peas and snow peas have tough, stringlike fibers running along their top seams. It won´t hurt you to eat them, but why would you want to when they’re so simple to remove? Here’s how:

Using your fingernails or the tips of your fingers, snap off the stem end of the pea toward the top seam, leaving the stringy part attached. The partially disconnected end will act as your “zipper pull.”

Pull the disconnected stem end to remove the string, much as you would unzip a zipper. If the string breaks before you’ve removed it all, repeat the process using the blossom end of the pea.