Braised Chinese
Mushrooms with Lettuce
and Broccoli
Ingredients
• 15 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked
overnight
• 4 Tbsp premium light soya sauce
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1-2 slices of ginger
• 1 thumb-sized piece of rock sugar
(found in Chinese supermarkets)
• ½ to 1 cup water, mixed half and half
with mushroom juice
• 1 tsp of vegetable oil
• 1 small head of lettuce, stripped into
leaves and washed
• 1 head of broccoli, broken into florets
and washed
• Toasted sesame oil, to taste
Method
• Soak the mushrooms. After soaking, do
not throw away the mushroom juice.
Keep aside, though be careful not to
use right down to the dregs. Carefully
cut the stems off the mushrooms but
keep the cap whole.
• Put all the other ingredients (except
lettuce and broccoli) in a deep
saucepan and add the mushrooms.
Bring to the boil, and boil on a medium
heat for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to a
simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, until the
sauce has reduced considerably.
• Blanch the lettuce and broccoli: Bring
a pan of water to the boil and add
the vegetable oil to the water to bring
a nice gloss to the veg. First add the
lettuce leaves and cook for a minute or
two – no longer, as you want to keep it
crunchy. Remove from the saucepan
and drain, before putting on a serving
plate. Boil the broccoli the same way,
for just a minute or two. They should
still be a little crunchy and bright
green. Remove, drain and place on
the outside of the serving dish. Drizzle
toasted sesame oil on top, to taste.
• Add the mushrooms on top of the
lettuce. As the sauce is very rich, there
is no need to pour it over the dish – the
mushrooms will have absorbed a lot
of flavour. The sauce can be reused in
cooking stir-fries or meat dishes.
February 2015
79
