Dinghu Supreme Vegetarian
A celebrated classic Cantonese dish, Dinghu Shangsu (鼎湖上素), features assorted mushrooms and vegetables layered into a mountain-like formation, then coated with a thick starchy sauce.
Ingredients
shiitake mushrooms
button mushrooms
straw mushrooms
white fungus
elm ear mushrooms
yellow ear mushrooms
osmanthus fungus
bamboo fungus
fresh lotus seeds
white mushrooms
silver needle mushrooms
bamboo shoots
Instructions
1
Braising the Ingredients
First, put the blanched or pre-cooked elm ear mushrooms, yellow ear mushrooms, fresh straw mushrooms, bamboo fungus, fresh lotus seeds, bamboo shoots, and white mushrooms into a pot and braise them with supreme vegetable stock and seasonings. Braise the white fungus and osmanthus fungus separately.
2
Stewing and Absorbing Moisture
Next, combine the stewed or blanched shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, and straw mushrooms with the elm ear mushrooms, yellow ear mushrooms, bamboo fungus, fresh lotus seeds, bamboo shoot flowers, and white mushrooms in a pot with seasonings and simmer until fully tender. Remove them and use a clean cloth to absorb excess moisture.
3
Layering into a Bowl
Take a large soup bowl. Layer the ingredients in the following order from the bottom up: white mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo fungus, straw mushrooms, yellow ear mushrooms, fresh lotus seeds, button mushrooms, bamboo shoot flowers, and elm ear mushrooms — taking a portion of each for each layer. Pack the remaining ingredients into the center of the bowl to fill it. Turn the bowl upside down onto a plate to form a layered mountain shape.
4
Preparing the Sauce and Finishing
Mix cooking wine, supreme vegetable stock, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, MSG, and wet water chestnut starch together to make a sauce, then cook it in a pot. Pour a generous amount of the sauce over the plate. Place the osmanthus fungus at the peak of the "mountain", the white fungus around the waist, and arrange choy sum and green bean sprouts around the edge from the inside out. Pour the remaining sauce over the osmanthus fungus and white fungus to finish.
