Lo Hon Jai

Filed under: Entree: Vegetarian
By Lori

The Buddhist staple:� a mixture of dried and fresh ingredients make this a must in any vegetarian's Chinese repertoire.� Once you have procured the oft-times hard-to-find ingredients, the dish is surprisingly simple, quick to prepare and well worth the effort.

1 oz. dried black Chinese (or shitake) mushrooms
1 large piece white "cloud-like" fungus
1/2 oz. shredded black fungus
1 bundle dried mung bean threads (thin vermicelli "fun see" or "fan see")
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can vegetarian mock abalone or braised gluten with mushrooms, etc.
1/2 lb. Chinese cabbage (siu choy), washed and sliced thinly (or substitute bean sprouts)
2 tbsp. dried black "hair" moss (has appearance of package of coarse, curly, black hair)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp. oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce)
1 1/2 tbsp. corn starch
2 tsp. light soya sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup water or vegetable stock, or combination of water, vegetable stock and/or mushroom soaking liquid, strained for mushroom sediment
3 green onions, sliced thinly

Combine mushrooms and white and black fungus in small bowl with tight-
fitting lid. Cover with very warm water and allow to stand, covered for 2-3
hours. Drain well (reserving liquid for use in making heen (cornstarch-water
mixture) below), then trim stems from mushrooms and the tough base portions from the white cloud fungus. Slice mushrooms into thin shreds; coarsely chop white fungus into approximately 10 pieces. Set aside. Soak the bundle of mung bean threads in very warm water for 30 minutes; drain (chop coarsely if desired) and set aside. Mix oyster sauce, corn starch, soya sauce, sugar and water (or vegetable stock or mushroom soaking liquid) together in a small bowl until corn starch is completely dissolved; set aside.
Heat oil over high heat in large pan; Add mushroom and fungi; sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. of the salt and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until ingredients are fragrant but not browned. Add undrained can of mock abalone/gluten/mushrooms and stir
together until all ingredients are heated through (about 4-5 minutes). Add
soaked mung bean threads, black "hair" moss and siu choy or bean sprouts.
Season with remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and the black pepper and stir-fry 3-4 minutes until vegetables are wilted. Pour reserved oyster sauce-corn starch-soya sauce-sugar-water mixture over ingredients and stir together. Cover with tight-fitting lid and cook over high heat until steam begins to rise from under the lid. Remove from heat, adjust seasonings to taste and stir in sliced green onions. Serve immediately.

4-6 servings