Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Bean Sprouts with Three Shreds (銀芽三絲)

This is quite a treat, an all-vegetable treat, that's surely enjoyable for meat-lovers and for those who may not have liked veggies that much (no greens in this dish :-). This dish can be chilled and served cold as an appetizer, good on a hot summer day.  BTW, Din Tai Fung's appetizer, Seaweed and Beancurd in Vinegar Dressing, might have been derived from this traditional Shanghai-style appetizer.
  1. [Prepare the Veggies] (1) Rinse ~8oz (half pound) of sprouts, and (optionally) remove both tips from each sprout (綠豆芽, aka 銀芽); (2) Peel 1-2 carrots and and shred with a Julian Slicer (紅蘿蔔絲); (3) Soak 10-12 wood ears in water for 60 minutes, remove harder knots, and cut into thin slices (木耳絲); (4) thinly slice 6-8 chunks of green onions (蔥絲). 
  2. [Sauté the Veggies] Add 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable oil into a flat bottom cooking pan. Turn on medium-to-high heat, add shredded carrots into the pan, stir for a minute. Add sliced wood ears into the pan, stir till the shredded carrots are slightly soft (2-3 minutes). Season with 1/4 tsp of salt, (optionally) 1/2 tsp of light soy sauce (Light-colored soy sauce only!), and 3 tsp of sugar. Add bean sprouts into the pan, and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add 2 tsp of white vinegar around the circumference of the pan (鍋邊醋). Turn off heat. 
  3. Stir and mix the veggies thoroughly.  Season to taste with salt (1/4 tsp a time), sugar (1 tsp a time), and white vinegar (1/2 tsp a time), to your own liking of the sweet-and-sour taste.  At the end, add the sliced green onion into the pan, and stir (please note the late addition of the green onion, to keep it green). Note- Salt, Sugar, and Vinegar is the ingredients for a Shanghai-style Vinegar Dressing
  4. Sprinkle sesame oil liberally on top of the veggies, and mix evenly.  Chill and serve cold as an appetizer. Here is a picture of the finished product. 

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