Chum Salmon and Snow Peas with Wood Ear Fungus (木耳荷蘭豆鮭魚, Muk6 Ji5 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gwai1 Jyu4)

This recipe was updated on 25 May 2015. Some instructions were changed.

Here’s a quick cooking salmon dish with minimal preparation time. Chum salmon was available at my local Asian market, but you can substitute regular salmon if you can’t find the chum. The seasoning is very simple, in fact my usual cornstarch thickener isn’t used in the sauce so that the salmon is the dominant taste. The crunch in this dish comes from the snow peas and, to a smaller degree, the wood ear fungus.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Chum salmon or salmon (鮭魚, gwai1 jyu4), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 lb.	500 g.	Snow Peas (荷蘭豆, ho4 laan4 dau6)
10	10	Dried wood ear fungus (木耳, muk6 ji5), rehydrated
8 oz.	227 g.	One package fried tofu (魚豆腐, jyu4 dau6 fu6)
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

3 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
3 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried wood ear fungus in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the fungus for at least one hour. Remove the wood ear fungus from the rehydration liquid and reserve the liquid for later use in the cooking process. Fresh wood ear fungus may be used if available.
2. Prepare the chum salmon or salmon by removing any bones, leaving the skin on if present, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
3. Wash and remove the string from the snow peas by grasping each snow pea in one hand and pulling the string the length of the snow pea with the other.
4. Open the fried tofu package and discard any liquid.
5. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) lengths.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat and before adding oil. Add the salmon pieces, skin side down, to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and leave the salmon alone for at least one minute to brown the skin. Once the skin is browned, gently stir fry the salmon to brown the other surfaces. You may have to cook the salmon in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Set the salmon aside in a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the wood ear fungus. Add some of the wood ear fungus rehydration liquid to facilitate heat transfer. Stir fry the fungus and then remove them to the bowl with the salmon.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the fried tofu. Stir fry the fried tofu and then remove them to the bowl with the salmon.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the snow peas. Stir fry the snow peas to brown them. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the salmon back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
5. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and mix the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.