Stir-fried Celery with Wood Ear Mushrooms (Mu’er, 木耳)

I really do often forget many simple chinese dishes that can easily be made at home, like this dish.

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Recipe from https://thewoksoflife.com/celtuce-recipe-stir-fry/#recipe

Prep Time: 35 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 10 dried wood ear mushrooms

• 1 large celtuce stem or 2-3 stalks of celery

• 1/2 red bell pepper (or 2-3 holland chilies)

• 1/3 cup stock (vegetable or chicken stock, or water)

• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 4 thin slices ginger

• 1-3 dried chili peppers (kept whole for less spice, or chopped in half for more spice)

• 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch (combined with 1 tablespoon water)

Instructions:

1. First, soak the wood ears in warm water to rehydrate (this should take about 30 minutes). You can also do this in advance and store them in the fridge. When they’re fully rehydrated, rinse and cut them in half or thirds.

2. Next, peel the tough outer skin off the celtuce using a paring knife or peeler, and slice into thin ⅛-inch rounds on the diagonal. De-seed your peppers, and cut into small chunks.

3. Mix ⅓ cup stock with ¼ teaspoon salt (or salt to taste), ¼ teaspoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine. Set aside.

4. Heat your wok over high heat. When it starts smoking, pour 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter. Add the ginger and fry gently for 15-30 seconds. Follow with the dried chili peppers, and cook for another few seconds.

5. Next, add the chunks of fresh peppers. Stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the wood ears. Toss to cook for about 1 minute. Nothing should be browning except the ginger, which can be lightly golden.

6. Next, add the garlic and celtuce. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pre-mixed stock mixture, and stir everything together. At this point, the celtuce and wood ears should be almost cooked to your liking—we like ours with a slight crunchy bite.

7. Stir up your cornstarch slurry to ensure it’s fully combined, and slowly stream it into the sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to thicken and coat the vegetables. This should take about 30 seconds. Plate and serve!

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super easy and quick dish to make, you do need to soak the dried mushrooms but you can start soaking them then prep the vegetables and cook your rice. I didn’t have the specific celtuce stem, which can sometimes be hard to find so instead i swapped it out with celery which is pretty similar. you can also swap out other vegetables if you don’t have it on hand but to really make this dish you do need the mushrooms and celtuce or celery. I would have liked it to be slightly more spicy so next time i will add half or a full fresh chili instead of chili flakes, but if you don’t like spice then stick to the recipe. I made another simple vegetable dish to accompany this and served it all with rice. easy dish and perfect to make for a weekday dinner.