Buddha's Delight

Name: Buddha's Delight
Prep time: 2 h 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 3 dried shiitake mushrooms; 5 g dried wood ear fungus; 5 g dried lily buds; 20 g dried beancurd sticks; 20 g mung bean vermicelli; 100 g Chinese leaf cabbage; 40 g carrot; 30 g mangetout; 40 g bamboo shoots; 30 g fried tofu puffs; 1 cube fermented white beancurd; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 0.5 tsp caster sugar; 5 g fresh ginger; 1 tbsp groundnut oil; 0.5 tsp toasted sesame oil; 1 tsp cornflour; salt; 150 ml water

Luohan zhai, the Buddhist temple braise of soaked mushrooms, wood ear, lily buds, beancurd sticks and crisp vegetables in a savoury fermented beancurd sauce, thickened just enough to coat. No garlic or onion, as the monastery kitchens intend.

Lunch & dinner Under 400 kcal

140 min125 prep · 15 cookMedium359 kcalper serving

Method

Put 20 g dried beancurd sticks in a bowl of warm water and leave them 2 hours, until they bend without snapping. Separately soak 3 dried shiitake, 5 g wood ear and 5 g lily buds in 150 ml warm water for 30 minutes.
Lift out the soaked goods and strain the mushroom water through a fine sieve, keeping every drop as stock. Squeeze the shiitake dry and slice them thickly, tear the wood ear into bite-sized pieces, knot the lily buds and trim off their hard tips, and cut the drained beancurd sticks into 4 cm lengths. Soak 20 g mung bean vermicelli in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and cut roughly in half with scissors.
Mash 1 cube fermented white beancurd to a smooth paste with the back of a spoon, then stir in 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 0.5 tsp caster sugar and the reserved mushroom stock. Slake 1 tsp cornflour in a tablespoon of cold water and set both aside. Cut 100 g Chinese leaf into 3 cm pieces, keeping the thick stems apart from the leaves.
Heat a wok over high heat until it smokes faintly, add 1 tbsp groundnut oil and swirl to coat. Fry 5 g sliced ginger for 20 seconds until fragrant, then add the shiitake, wood ear, 40 g carrot, 40 g bamboo shoots and the cabbage stems. Stir-fry hard for 2 minutes, until the carrot edges brighten and the mushrooms smell toasty.