Braised Dry Shiitake Mushroom and Deep-Fried Tofu Ball

Dry shiitake mushroom has been one of my favourite food ingredients. Every time when I went to my grandma’s for dinner, she would prepare it for me, usually braised or brewed, in oyster sauce, with pork belly, chicken, dry oyster. It is still one of our favourable dishes in Chinese New Year feast, a Cantonese must have.

I usually buy the best quality dry shiitake mushrooms. They are thick, juicy and full of flavour, but need to soak in water for quite a few hours to soften before cooking. So I would soak them in water in the morning before leaving home. Besides cooking with meat or seafood, its tasty flavour is also good for tofu and vegetable, those can absorb sauce. This evening, I used deep-fried tofu ball.

Ingredients –
Dry shiitake mushroom, 6, or as many as you want;
Deep-fried tofu ball, 10, or as many as you want;
Ginger, 10g;
Oyster sauce, 2tbsp. Look for vegetarian oyster sauce if you are vegetarian;
Light soy sauce, 1tbsp;
Dark soy sauce, 1tsp;
Chinese cooking wine, 1tbsp;
Sugar, 1tsp;
Spring onion, optional.

How to do –
1. Soak the dry mushrooms in water till they are soft. It might take 2 or 3 hours. Then cut off the stalks. Cut into big piece if they are too big;

2. Heat some oil in hot pan, put in ginger slices and mushrooms and fry till fragrant, in medium high heat;

3. Put in the tofu balls, all seasoning ingredients, add some water till the mushrooms are covered. Lid on and let them brew in medium heat in 15 minutes;

4. Lid off and have a taste, adjust with a little more sugar or salt. Turn up the heat to reduce the sauce;

5. Garnish with chopped spring onion.