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It had been a fun and busy long weekend filled with luncheons, dinners and friend gatherings for the celebration of Tiger Year. On the other hand, I had a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner with my lovely boyfriend. Everything was just great. Here once again, I wish everyone a good start in the Chinese New Year and wish all the couples a happily ever after (有情人總成眷屬).

On the first day of Chinese New Year, I’ve prepared the well known vegetarian dish so called the Buddha’s Delight or lo han jai (羅漢齋). It is traditionally consumed by the  Buddhist monks who are vegetarians. However this dish has grown popularity over the years and now can be found in most Chinese restaurants for serving. For Buddhists who are not solely vegetarians will also practice vegetarians on the first and fifteenth day of the month based on the lunar calendar. Therefore this vegetarian dish has become more and more popular and eventually become a traditional dish for the Chinese New Year.

Lo han jai consists of various vegetables,  mainly the napa (Chinese cabbage), mushroom, carrot, bean curd sticks (圓支腐竹), mung bean vermicelli (粉絲), golden needles (金針菇) and black wood ear (黑木耳). You can also add in other ingredients based on your preference such as water chestnut, baby corn and snow peas. I specially added fat choy or black moss seaweed (髮菜) into the dish for a good luck signification for the Chinese New Year. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 bean curd sticks (soaked in water till soft, cut into 2″ pieces)
2 handful of mung bean vermicelli (soaked in water till soft)
8 mushrooms (soaked in water till soft, cut into halves)
5-6 pieces of napa cabbage leaves (cut into 1″ pieces)
1 carrot (cut into slices)
8 black wood ears (soaked in water till soft, remove the harden areas, cut into smaller pieces)
12 snow peas
12 button mushrooms (cut into halves)
8 baby corns
1 pack golden needles (remove the bottom part)
1/4 cup fat choy (soaked in water till soft)
3 pcs fermented red bean curd “南乳” (mashed into paste)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup water

For the seasoning:
2 tbsp shaoxing wine (紹興酒)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 cup water

Serve size: 4 -6 people.

Cooking Method:

1. Soak all the dried ingredients in a separate bowl, including the bean curd sticks, mung bean vermicelli, black mushrooms, black wood ears and fat choy. Remove and drain. Cut into smaller pieces. Prepare the other ingredient, rinse, wash and cut into smaller pieces if desired.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok over medium. Stir fry minced garlic and fermented red bean curd till fragrant. Add in 2 tbsp water to prevent from drying out.
3. Add in the black mushrooms and bean curd sticks. Add the shaoxing wine and stir fry till fragrant.
4. Pour in water and bring to boil. Add in seasoning and all other ingredients. Cook and stir fry on high heat till water reduced to half, fairly dry. Serve hot.

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I was doing my regular grocery shopping at the Asian market and I happened to see the wood ear or black fungus.  It’s been a while since the last time I’ve cooked a dish with the wood ear. Perhaps it was a year ago or so.  So I just grabbed a pack of wood ears home.

Wood ear (木耳) is actually an edible fungus used mainly in Asian cuisine and they are sold in dried form.  Also known as tree ear, this fungus grows in masses on dead wood or elder tree and it resembles a human ear when it is fresh. As I know, the wood ear has no flavor of its own, but it will soak the flavors of the ingredients when it is cooked with.

I decided to stir-fry the chicken breast with the black fungus I have gotten. This is a simple and healthy dish that everyone can cook.

Ingredients:
1 skinless boneless chicken breast (cut into strips)
5~6 pieces of wood ears (soaked into hot water for 20 minutes to soften them, then cut into strips)
2 inches ginger (sliced)
1 stalk scallion (minced)
cilantro leaves for garnish (minced)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
½  tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbsp ShaoHsing cooking wine (rice wine)
white pepper powder
8 tbsp water
* you may use chicken thighs and legs (de-skinned is an option) to replace the chicken breast.

Serve size: 2-3 people

Cooking Method:

1. Marinate the chicken meats with sesame oil, soy sauce, corn starch and little white pepper for 30 minutes.
2. Heat up the cooking oil in a wok and stir-fry the ginger strips for 3 minutes.
3. Put the marinated chicken meats into the wok and stir-fry them well until fully cooked.
4. Add in the wood ears and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
5. Add in oyster sauce, kecap manis, salt, cooking wine and water.
6. Finally, add the scallions and do a few quick stirs.
7. Dish up.

Serves well with steamed rice.