Stir-fried wood ear mushroom with egg and capsicum

Looking to increase your weekly vegetable intake, but running short on time? Try this brilliant stir-fry from Adam Liaw, packed with vibrant textures from black fungus, capsicum and egg, that takes only 10 minutes to cook.

• serves

  2-4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup dried wood ear mushroom (black fungus)
• 1 tsp potato starch mixed with ¼ cup cold water
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp chicken stock powder or MSG
• ½ tsp rice wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 small green capsicum, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 thin slices ginger
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• A good pinch of sugar

Soaking time: 20 minutes

Instructions

1. Place the wood ear mushrooms into a medium bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to stand for 20 minutes to rehydrate. Drain, squeeze of any excess liquid, then trim away the hard base. Tear the mushrooms into smaller pieces, if they are large. In a small bowl, whisk together the potato starch with ¼ cup (60 ml) water, until smooth.
2. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl then add the sesame oil, chicken stock powder, vinegar and a generous drizzle of the potato starch slurry. Whisk well to combine.
3. Heat a large wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil. Stir-fry the capsicum, mushrooms, garlic and ginger until the capsicum is softened. Remove from the wok to a plate. Add the remaining oil to the pan. Fry the egg until barely set, then return the vegetables to the wok with the oyster sauce, wine, soy sauce and sugar. Thicken the sauce with the remaining potato starch slurry and toss to combine.
4. Transfer the stir-fried wood ear mushroom with egg and capsicum to a large serving plate and serve immediately.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.