Chilled Wood Ear Mushrooms

My parents told me that this simple dish for chilled wood ear mushrooms is for cold platters, something like an appetizer, and one of my aunts makes it once in a while. The difference is that in addition to oyster sauce and sesame oil, you would lightly add light soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. As well as other veggies tossed in such as carrots, cucumber, or some chilies.) One day, out of laziness, I wanted to have some wood ear mushrooms with noodles that could also be a side dish with rice. I figured that wood ear mushrooms have very little taste, so they're more for the enjoyment of the texture. To keep things as simple, I started this dish by eyeballing oyster sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil. I'm still surprised that this dish is so minimalistic and tastes great.

Most of the work is done by the fact that oyster or mushroom sauce is already very complex tasting. However, since these sauces are so salty and sweet, lightly dressing it helps you taste more of those sauces. I feel that this finesse based approach to Chinese food is very underrepresented in the US. 

(This is how much wood ears expands after being rehydrated. Use plenty of water.)

Restore dried wood ear mushrooms and you would from this earlier recipe. Blanch, drain, toss, and chill and these are good in the fridge for a few days. I could even see this as a possible dish for a cold platter for a Cantonese banquet. It could go very well with something like jellyfish, but that's for another post.

Recipe: Makes about 3.5 cups

1 c. dried wood ear mushrooms
2 tbsp. oyster or mushroom sauce (or to taste)
1 tsp. sesame oil (or to taste)

In a large bowl, add the wood ear mushrooms and add with a lot of water to cover. Let the mushrooms soak for about 45 minutes to an hour. Don't let them soak too long or they will get soggy. 

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil.

When the mushrooms are restored, pick or cut out the stems as they gritty bits in them. Rip by hand or slice into smaller bite sized pieces and blanch for 1 minute in the boiling water. 

Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain for about 10 minutes. 

In a bowl, toss the wood ear mushrooms with the oyster or mushroom sauce, then with sesame oil. You can chill this in the fridge for a few days, but if you chill this for at least an hour and serve it straight from the fridge, it's better to season it with a little bit more of oyster or mushroom sauce and sesame oil.

*Note: when seasoning, it's best to adjust this to taste. The mushrooms are very wrinkly so be sure to toss well for even coating before tasting and adding any more seasoning. The proportions I added in this recipe is seasoned a little bit lighter. What I'm looking for is the sensation when you begin to notice some of the savoriness of the oyster or mushroom sauce without it being overly salty and sweet. When seasoning things that are chilled, you need to be a little bit more aggressive. Flavors get a little bit muted from colder temperatures. Always taste when you season things!