The woods have ears in Manchuria

Manchuria in the northeast, like Yunnan in the southwest, is home to deep forests where mushrooms of every stripe grow. 

And, like Yunnan, these often are treated with a minimum of seasonings and preparation in order to turn them into wonderful dishes that are all about the character of that particular variety of mushroom.

Wood ears—a direct translation of their Chinese name—is a fairly bland fungus that smells mildly fishy when fresh and grows mainly on elder trees. Its allure, then, is not as much about its flavor as its delightful gelatinous texture. 

Collected mainly in the fall, which is why the Chinese name here is literally “autumn wood ear,” it is ascribed many helpful attributes in Chinese medicine, including lowering bad cholesterol levels.

Fresh is best if you can find it, and cultivated varieties are becoming more common in markets, at least near where I live in the Bay Area. But dried ones are good, too. They can easily be rehydrated by pouring boiling water over them. 

A specialty of the Northeast

Like dried black mushrooms, these plumped-up wood ears will not be as tender as fresh ones, and their flavor will be even a bit more subdued, but they are still very good.

Wood ears braised with green onions

Cōngshāo qīumù’ér 蔥燒秋木兒  

Northeast
Serves 4 to 6

1 medium leek (or 4 green onions), trimmed

4 cups (or so, lightly packed) fresh or completely plumped-up dehydrated wood ears

2 tablespoons oil

6 tablespoons rice wine

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

4 teaspoons regular soy sauce, or to taste

2 teaspoons sugar

1. Trim the dark green leaves off the leak, cut it in half through the root, and then wash between the leaves very carefully to remove all of the grit. Pat the leek dry. Cut the leek on the diagonal into thin shreds. (If using green onions, simply cut both the white and green parts into 2-inch lengths.) Carefully rinse the fresh or rehydrated wood ears and either shake or pat them dry.

Flash-fried leeks

2. Heat a wok over high heat until it starts to smoke, and then add the oil. Swirl it around and add all of the leek shreds or green onion. Quickly stir-fry them until they barely begin to brown, and toss in the wood ears. Stir-fry these together until the wood ears are almost cooked through. (Fresh ones will start to make little explosions when this happens.)

3. Add the rice wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar to the wood ears and toss them thoroughly. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot.

Tips

Store raw wood ears like any other mushroom: without rinsing and in a paper bag, which will absorb any extra moisture and keep down both fungal invasions and rot.

Dry ones keep pretty much forever if stored in a sealed container in a dark cupboard.

Yunnan's stir-fried rice noodles

When it comes to starch in Yunnan cuisine, only one immediately comes to mind: rice noodles. 

People who are not familiar with these often get them mixed up with cellophane noodles (also called mung noodles or fensi). And this is perfectly understandable because in their dry state they look very similar: brittle, white, and translucent.

Rice noodles, though, are favored more in the south of China, while cellophane noodles reside comfortably in North China's many cuisines. Taiwan has some truly wonderful brands (particularly the ones made in Puli), and you will also find them made in China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. The main difference -- besides quality, of course -- is thickness and whether the noodles are fresh or dry.

Textures & flavors abound

The dry noodles come in two basic shapes: thin round and thick flat. They are pretty much interchangeable when it comes to taste, although sticklers will say, for example, that Taiwanese fried mifen must be of the thin and round variety. If there are no sticklers around, it's pretty much your call.

Whenever you find fresh rice noodles in your Chinese grocers, think of this recipe and snag a package. Fresh noodles are ethereal and completely worth seeking out. If, on the other hand, you just have some dried mifen lurking in your pantry, it works beautifully here, and it doesn't matter whether it is thick or thin. This really is a forgiving and very accommodating dish.

In fact, you should think of this is merely a template for further explorations. Once you've mastered the minimal skills required for stir-frying rice noodles, let your imagination and appetite soar.

Today, for example, I decided I couldn't face another breakfast of eggs and toast or another bowl of oatmeal, so we had these rice noodles topped with fried eggs. Luscious.

Fresh wood ear

The noodles end up being a bland but plush background for an assortment of wonderful flavors. I had some fresh wood ear mushrooms in the fridge (we are lucky enough to live in mushroom country), so a bunch of them went into the wok. They too are bland, but they act as a nice, neutral setup for all the fireworks that are going on:

Red chilies explode, but in a nice way. The ones I used were the little dry Thai chilies that really only show off their heat if they gang up on your tongue; here, they mingle with everything else and so just shimmer away. The fermented black beans are nice salty punches of umami, scenting each bite as they burst and then disappear. Likewise the cilantro offers a pleasant funk, while the green onions lend their usual herbal note.

It's a wonderful combination.

Yunnan's stir-fried rice noodles
Yunnan chao mifen 雲南炒米粉
Yunnan
Serves 2 as a main dish

Aromatics

6 ounces dry rice noodles or 12 ounces fresh rice noodles
Boiling water, as needed for dry rice noodles
10 fresh or dry wood ear mushrooms, or other mushrooms
Small bunch of cilantro
5 small dried chilies, more or less
2 tablespoons fermented black beans
1 green onion, trimmed
4 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons roasted sesame oil

1. If you are using dried noodles, place them in a large work bowl and cover them with boiling water. As the water cools a bit, loosen the strands. After about 10 minutes, check the noodles; they should be loose and plump. If not, cover them with more boiling water. When the noodles are white and slithery, rinse them in a colander under cool tap water. Drain them and shake them dry. (If you are using fresh noodles, fluff them up so that they are in loose strands that don't stick together.)

2. Clean the mushrooms and trim, if necessary. Cut them into bite-sized pieces if they are large. Rinse the cilantro, shake dry, and trim off the ends; chop it coarsely. Break the chilies open and shake out the seeds, and then crumble them into pieces no larger than a quarter inch. Lightly chop the fermented black beans. Cut the green onion thinly on the diagonal.

3. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the mushrooms, cilantro, chilies, black beans, and green onion, and stir-fry for around a minute. Toss in the softened dried noodles or the fresh noodles and continue to stir-fry over high for around 5 minutes until the noodles are lightly browned. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil and toss some more; taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot.

Tips

Today's breakfast

Wood ear mushrooms are becoming more popular now in Chinese markets, but if you don't have them in your area, dried ones are easily reconstituted. Just remember that a tiny dried wood ear turns into an enormous one after it is soaked in boiling water. If you do happen to soak more than you can immediately use, just drain them and store in a plastic bag on top of a paper towel in the fridge for a day or two.

Fresh rice noodles will be fine if kept in the fridge unopened for a couple of days, although they will lose some of their softness.

Shandong's fish napped with wine lees

Yesterday we took another look at making Fermented Rice. Now that you have a big jar of it  staring at you meaningfully from a kitchen shelf, I've come to the rescue with a terrific fish recipe from the northern coastal province of Shandong. 

The story I've heard is that Fish Napped with Wine Lees dates back at least to August 1894. On the night before Chinese and Japanese fleets first exchanged fire in the First Sino-Japanese War, famed chef Lü Wenqi was in charge of preparing meals for Viceroy Li Hongzhang, who directed the Chinese forces. Chef Lü made this refined dish for the viceroy, who was so impressed that he asked for it many times during the war. Later on, the great city of Yantai in Shandong became renowned for its version of Fish Napped with Wine Lees.

Viceroy Li

Delicate in texture and gentle in both taste in aroma, this simple contrast of black and white is every bit as beautiful to look at as it is to eat. The magic of this dish lies in the contrasts of the pillowy fish with the crunchy bamboo shoots and the bouncy wood ear mushrooms, as well as the undercurrents of wine and gentle aromatics. This is a great dish to start off a banquet with, because it tantalizes the tongue and prepares the appetite for more good things to come. Of course, it is also unbelievably good as a main entree over rice with a brilliantly green side of fresh vegetables.

You can, of course, use storebought fermented rice (jiuniang), but be aware that it often is sweeter than homemade. So, taste it before you use it. If it is decidedly sweet, use half the amount recommended below and make up the amount with an unsweetened, neutral rice wine, like mijiu or Japanese sake.

If you have never tried wood ear mushrooms (mu'er) before, this is a great place to start. They make up for their plain taste with a squeaky texture and deep hue that contrasts brilliantly with the fish and bamboo shoots here. You can always find them dried in any Chinese market, and if you are in an area with a sizable Chinese population, you often can find packages of fresh wood ears. Use the rest of the package for something like the Four Happiness Braised Gluten from a few months ago.

Wood ears with friends

Two cooking techniques are highlighted here. The first is using a Chinese spider over a bowl to capture your fried foods. Professional Chinese kitchens use this a lot, and it is a great idea. You fry whatever it is you are frying, and as each piece is done, you scoop it out to the spider, where it drains into a bowl. Then when the last of the food has been fried, the rest of the oil can be dumped into the bowl through the spider, leaving you with a relatively clean wok.

Second, when you cook very fragile foods like sliced fish, you have to be extremely careful that you don't break them apart. That is why fish is rarely stir-fried unless it has a very firm texture like shark, or is covered in a cooked batter. The secret is to move the food around by swirling the wok. As with this recipe, everything is already cooked, the vegetables are hot, and all you need to do is heat up the fish slices in the sauce. By the time you plate this dish, they will have naturally mixed together.

On a final note, if you are a student of Chinese, the character liu here is often used in northern and eastern coastal dishes to mean that the ingredients (usually seafood or freshwater fish) are first cooked and then "sauced."

Fish napped with wine lees 
Zaoliu yupian 糟溜魚片 
Shandong

Serves 6 to 8 as one of many entrees, or 2 to 3 as a main entree

Fish and marinade:

1 pound wild-caught flatfish fillets (such as sole or flounder)
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ large egg white (2 tablespoons), lightly beaten
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Vegetables:

About 2 tablespoons dried wood ear mushrooms (mu'er), or about ¼ cup packed fresh
1 winter (large) bamboo shoot, fresh or frozen

Seasonings:

2 cups peanut or vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon finely minced peeled, fresh ginger
2 tablespoons finely minced green onions, white parts only
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
5 to 6 tablespoons salted stock (chicken or fish), or filtered water with ½ teaspoon powdered boullion
2 teaspoons cornstarch 
½ cup Homemade Fermented Rice (mainly the rice, with a couple tablespoons of the liquid), or ¼ cup storebought fermented rice plus ¼ cup plain rice wine (mijiu)
½ teaspoon sea salt

1. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the fish into squares about 2 inches all around. Place the fish in a small work bowl with the rice wine and salt and allow it to marinate covered in the refrigerator for about an hour; drain off the liquid. Then, add the egg white and cornstarch and toss the fish until it is evenly coated.

2. While the fish is marinating, cover the dried wood ears with boiling water, and then drain clean and trim them as soon as they are plump; if you are using fresh wood ears, trim off the hard areas, rinse, and pat dry. Tear the wood ears into pieces about the size of a quarter; if you have only sliced dried wood ears, then there's no need to cut them any further. Clean and trim the fresh bamboo shoot as described earlier; defrost the frozen bamboo shoot if you're using that. Then cut the shoot into quarters lengthwise before slicing the shoot as thinly as possible.

Spider setup

3. Just before serving, heat the oil in your wok over medium heat until a bamboo chopstick inserted in the oil gently bubbles around the edge (around 300 degrees F). Place a Chinese spider over a work bowl and a serving platter next to the stove (see photo on right). Gently fry the fish one handful at a time so that the slices gradually turn opaque in the center and pale gold around the edges, stirring and turning them over gently with a wok spatula as they cook. Use a wok spatula to remove the fish to the spider, and let it drain into the work bowl while you cook the next handful of fish. Then, empty the spider onto the platter before you scoop out the next batch of fried fish. Continue in this way until all of the fish has been cooked. (If you cook the fish in small batches this way, they won't stick to each other and the oil temperature won't drop fast when you add the cold fish; this allows the fish to cook evenly and quickly.)

4. When all of the fish has been cooked, drain out all but about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Raise the heat to high and add the ginger, onions, and garlic. Rapidly stir-fry the aromatics for about 10 seconds before adding the wood ears and bamboo shoots and 2 tablespoons of the stock. Stir-fry them for a few minutes over high heat until the bamboo shoots are no longer raw but still very crisp; you can tell the bamboo shoots are ready when they start to bend easily. Mix the cornstarch with the rest of the stock and place it next to the stove.

5. Pour the fermented rice and salt into the wok, bring the sauce to a boil, scoot the vegetables up the side of the wok, add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce, and mix until it thickens. Quickly toss the fish into the sauce at the bottom of the wok. Since the fish slices are extremely fragile at this point, layer the vegetables on top of the fish and then merely shake the wok around to mix things up. Taste and adjust the seasoning, and then immediately plate on your serving platter.


Photo of Viceroy Li courtesy of Wikipedia