Stir-fried chicken with wood ear fungus

July 28, 2010

It’s good to experiment with different ingredients and an Asian grocery store can be an interesting place to start. If some of the packets, jars and cans have you mystified there’s usually someone on hand who can give you information and, if you’re lucky, share a recipe.

I noticed bunches of greens at one local store labelled “morning glory” though they didn’t look like the pesky garden convolvulus I knew. This vegetable is also called water spinach or water convolvulus. The woman at the till told me to stirfry it but to first discard the lower end of the hollow stems which can be tough. She said to chop the remaining stem and start cooking that first as it takes longer than the leaves which, like spinach, wilt down. Some garlic and a little chilli are a good addition. These greens made a good side to today’s dish.

One of the ingredients I chose is wood ear fungus which the man at another Asian store quickly located for me. “What are you going to do with it?” he asked. I told him I was cooking it with chicken. He beamed at me and said “Nice and crunchy.”

This strange leathery-looking dried fungus needs to be soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes before use and then chopped into strips. Even when cooked, it does add crunch to a dish and provides a texture contrast.

Stir-fried chicken with wood ear fungus

2-3 pieces wood ear fungus
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, finly chopped
2-3 tablespoons finely julienned fresh ginger
500g chicken tenderloins’ cut into chunks
1 teaspoon chilli concentrate
2 kaffir lime leaves, spines removed, finely chopped
3 spring onions cut into 2cm pieces
1 teaspoon soft brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 a red pepper sliced
handful fresh coriander leaves picked from the stems
1/2 cup Thai basil, chopped

Place the fungus in hot water to soak for about 15 minutes. Drain and slice.

Heat the oil in a wok and cook the garlic and ginger for a minute then add the chicken and brown it. You may have to do this in a couple of batches. Return the chicken to the wok then add the chilli, the kaffir lime, the fungus and the spring onions and toss for a minute. Add the fish sauce and sugar, combine well and cover and steam for five minutes.

<< Previous | Next >>