Vegetarian Sea Cucumber
A Hubei-style vegetarian dish made to resemble sea cucumber, using shiitake mushrooms, vegetarian ham, and tofu skin. Fried, then steamed, and finished with sauce.
Ingredients
Rehydrated shiitake mushrooms (remove stems, cut into strips)
100 g
Vegetarian ham (cut into strips)
150 g
Tofu skin (cut into strips)
2 sheets
Soy sauce
25 g
Flour (mixed into a thin paste for sealing)
25 g
Wet cornstarch
25 g
Ginger powder
5 g
Sugar
15 g
Chopped scallion
25 g
MSG
1 g
White pepper
0.5 g
Sesame oil (approximately 100 g used)
500 g
Fine salt
1.5 g
Instructions
1
Preparing and Marinating the Ingredients
Cut the tofu skin into strips 6 cm long and 3 cm wide. Remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and cut into strips about 0.6 cm thick. Cut the vegetarian ham into strips 1.5 cm long and 0.6 cm wide. Place the shiitake mushrooms and vegetarian ham in a bowl, add the sugar, fine salt, 0.5 g MSG, chopped scallion, ginger powder, and 15 g wet cornstarch, and mix well to coat.
2
Wrapping the Vegetarian Sea Cucumbers
Lay the tofu skin flat on a cutting board, then evenly distribute the coated shiitake mushrooms and vegetarian ham along each strip of tofu skin. Wrap each one into a sea cucumber–shaped piece, seal the edges with the thin flour paste, and pinch firmly to secure the bundles.
3
Frying and Steaming
Place a wok over high heat and add the sesame oil. Heat to about 70% hot, then add the bundles one at a time and fry for 2 minutes until golden. Remove and arrange neatly in a bowl, then steam over high heat for 1 minute. Take out of the steamer and invert onto a serving plate.
4
Saucing and Serving
Pour off the excess oil from the wok, return it to high heat, and add 100 g water and the soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Thicken with the remaining wet cornstarch mixed into a slurry, drizzle in 15 g sesame oil and stir to blend, then pour the sauce over the dish and sprinkle with white pepper before serving.
