Crispy Vegetarian Eel
A Zhejiang-style dish shaped like crispy eel; crisp, light, and aromatic.
Ingredients
Soaked dried shiitake mushrooms (stems removed, cut into eel-like long strips)
250 g
Sugar
about 100 g
Dried starch
60 g
Soy sauce
a pinch
Refined cooked oil (about 60 g absorbed)
300 g
Young ginger (peeled, cut into fine shreds, soaked with rice vinegar and sugar for later use)
15 g
White pepper powder
2 g
Sesame oil
5 g
Rice vinegar
1 small dish
Instructions
1
Preparing the Ingredients
Remove the stems from the soaked shiitake mushrooms (strain and reserve the soaking water for later), squeeze out excess water, and cut along the edges into eel-like long strips. Peel the young ginger, cut into fine shreds as thin as cotton thread, and soak with rice vinegar and sugar (8 g) for later use.
2
Frying and Seasoning
Place a wok over high heat, add the refined cooked oil and heat to medium-low. Squeeze the shiitake strips dry, roll them thoroughly in the dried starch, shake off any loose powder, and drop them into the hot oil to fry (if the oil amount is limited, fry in two batches). Flip constantly and fry for about 1 minute until hard and crispy, then remove and drain the oil. In the wok, add about 60 g of the reserved mushroom soaking water, soy sauce, and sugar, and cook until thick and sticky. Return the crispy fried shiitake strips to the wok and toss until evenly coated with the glaze. Sprinkle with white pepper, drizzle with sesame oil, and transfer to a serving plate. Top with the sugar-vinegar ginger shreds.
