The challenge in cooking a quick vegan stir fry is adding depth of flavor. The mouth-coating, satisfying rounded taste you get from a piece of bacon or a splash of meat stock is hard to achieve only with plant-based products.
The solution comes from both the earth and the sea. Dried shiitake mushrooms, which as the Japanese know have a greater umami flavor than fresh ones, do double duty as both an ingredient in a broth and as vegetables in the stir fry. Kombu, the dried seaweed, adds a pleasant complexity and aroma.
This dish demands to be cooked over high heat, which means you need to stand over your sauté pan or wok, stirring often and making sure nothing burns. If you like stir fries hot, by all means add more of the sambal, the Indonesian hot pepper sauce, which I find more flavorful and milder than the more widely used Sriracha.
Note: This recipe depends on big, plump dried shiitakes, not small, shriveled ones, which can be tough even after they are rehydrated. You can find good dried shiitakes at Pacific Mercantile.
Shiitake Stir Fry
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup water
12 large dried shiitake mushrooms caps
1 3-inch piece kombu
2 tablespoons light soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small red onion, cut into ½-inch strips
1 medium carrot, peeled cut thinly on the bias
1 red pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
2 heads baby bok choy, separated into individual leaves, or 2 cups coarsely chopped Napa cabbage
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sambal
Four cups steamed rice
Directions
Bring the water to a boil. Place the dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu in a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle with one tablespoon of the soy sauce and pour the boiling water over the mushroom mixture. Immediately cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for up to an hour. Remove the shiitake mushrooms. Cut off any remaining stem from the underside of the mushroom and slice the mushrooms into thick strips. Reserve the mushroom-soaking liquid and discard the kombu.
Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat. Add the red onion, carrot and red pepper and stir fry for about 3 minutes until softened. Add the bok choy or Napa cabbage and the shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry 10 seconds.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant but not colored , about 30 seconds.
Add the brown sugar, rice vinegar, sambal, remaining one tablespoon soy sauce and the mushroom-soaking liquid. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
Serve the stir fry immediately over steamed rice.
