Skip to main content

Stir-fry chicken with wood ear fungus



Wood ear fungus or 'Muk Yi', does resemble an ear, and they grow on the trunks and barks of mostly dead trees.  They are a good source of nutrients, full of vitamins, low in calories and most important, inexpensive.
Besides having medicinal benefits and lowering cholesterol, the fungus also acts to prevent blood clotting, which is therefore a must  have for mothers in confinement after child birth.

The fungus is flavourless, has a slightly crunchy, rubbery texture which is retained even after cooking.  It is favoured in Chinese cuisine, in soups, stuffings or stir-fries.  Adding wood ears to meat dishes enhance the flavour as they absorb the liquid in which they are cooked, taking on the taste of the other ingredients.






dried Wood ear fungus  ...... wash, soak for about 10 mins., then rinse, soak again for another 1/2 an hour till they puff up in size.  Trim off the hard parts and slice.












a very suitable dish for mothers in confinement



Recipe for stir-fry chicken with wood ear fungus

Ingredients
350 gm free range chicken, cut into bite size
10  gm Wood ears - soaked till double in size, slice
10  gm young ginger  - sliced
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil  - for frying
1  Tsp Cornflour mixed with 2 Tbsp water
Salt to taste

Seasoning for the chicken
1  Tsp Oyster sauce
1  Tsp Sesame oil
1  Tsp Light Soya sauce
1 /2  Tsp Dark Soya sauce
1/4  Tsp sugar
1/4  Tsp salt

Preparation
Saute the young ginger with the sesame oil
add in the chicken pieces, fry for a while
Add in the 3/4 cup water, simmer for a while
toss in the wood ear fungus, stir-fry
Once the chicken is cooked
thicken the gravy with the cornflour mixture
Add salt to taste, dish up
Serve




Comments

  1. I love these fungus cooked with meat. I prefer the smaller thinner ones which are softer. Another lovely dish you have cooked. Love it with rice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a huge pack of wood ear mushrooms in the cupboard and haven't touch it yet. So, this is a good recipe to try. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't remember the last time I had wood ear fungus. Your chicken pieces look very generous! Good on you :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. so glad to see wood ear used in a recipe. i haven't been able to find any yet, but recently read about the health benefits and have been interested in trying to cook with it. looks tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  5. An awesome stir-fry! I've been hearing a lot about wood ear fungus lately and would love to find it and try!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mary
    Think the softer ones are cloud ear fungus, what we call 'wan yee', they're softer and not so crispy. Normally, we use that in steam chicken or cook 'chai choy', vegetarian dish.

    Divina
    Give it a try and if you don't want to feel heaty, fry it with ordinary cooking oil, not sesame oil.

    penny
    Thanks. Can also cook it with pork and nam yee.

    Brie: Le Grand Fromage
    Wood ear fungus is supposed to lower cholesterol. This dish is tasty.

    5 Star Foodie
    Thanks. It's worth trying.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love wood ear in my recipe very much. Love the crunchy texture! And this looks really yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Little Space
    Ya, very crunchy, cheap and full of goodness.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A favourite of ours too, though haven't cook it for somewhile! Great that you've presented it here...now I know what to cook for tomorrow. Haha, dining out tonight, so no cooking today!
    Have a wonderful weekend, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jacqueline
    Oh, so kitchen closed today, me too. You too have a nice weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Glad i found this post , i love wood ear - it's so much fun with it's crunchy texture! My mom likes to add them to her wine chicken soup

    ReplyDelete
  12. lishapisa
    Thanks for dropping by. Yes, it's delicious when you add in red rice wine chicken soup.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for dropping by. Please click on 'Anonymous' if you do not have a blog but do leave your name after the comment because I would like to know who you are.

Popular posts from this blog

Hakka Mee aka Hakka Noodles

This is yet another one dish meal, Hakka Mee/Hakka Noodles. These noodles are quite similar to Won Ton Noodles, except that they  have less lye water and the noodles are a bit flat and thicker.  They're served with bean sprouts with a generous serving of minced meat sauce. the noodles, ........... need to loosen them up before cooking serve with chilli sauce topped with chopped garlic ..... that will do the trick ..... yummy! Recipe for Hakka Mee aka Hakka Noodles Ingredients 180 gm Minced Pork 60 gm Garlic  -  chopped 200 gm Bean Sprouts 4 dried Chinese mushrooms - soaked and diced 3/4 cup water 1 Tsp cornflour + 3 Tbsp of water 3 servings of Hakka noodles Oil for frying. Garnishing  -  Chopped spring onions Seasoning for minced pork 1/2 Tsp Salt 1  Tsp sugar 1  Tbsp  Fish sauce 1  Tsp dark soya sauce A dash of pepper Preparation Saute the chopped garlic with 1 Tbsp oil, fry till fragrant Add in the seasoned minced pork, diced mushroo

Herbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Gao

H erbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Ga o literally translated means 'Tortoise Jelly' is one of my family's favourite desserts.  It's much more economical to prepare this at home for you'll need to fork out between Rm 9 to Rm 11 for a bowl of this cooling dessert in any of those herbal tea outlets.  This soothing jelly, served chilled, is supposed to be able to help reduce our body heat, helps to get rid of toxins and is believed to be good for the skin thus culminating a healthier complexion.

Double Boiled Herbal Chicken Soup

Double boiling is slow cooking ........ means to put a soup pot or any covered ceramic or steel pot inside a bigger pot, immerse in boiling water, and let the soup cook at a lower temperature.  Hence the soup is cooked from heat generated from the boiling water and not from direct heat source. Double boiling lets the soup ingredients slowly release their nutrients into the soup, thus making it tasty and wholesome.  It's a long cooking process, roughly averaging 2 to 4 hours.  The tip is not to open the cover to check on the soup as it'll bring down the temperature and affect the cooking process.  The plus point is there's little evaporation and the soup will not boil over.  The only thing is to monitor that there's enough water in the bigger pot and not let it run dry.  Of course, nowadays, the slow cooker is another alternative to double boiling, saves the hassle of checking the water level.