Chinese Broccoli And Mushroom Stir Fry

 Method for Chinese broccoli and mushroom stir fry

1. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms and beancurd knots in room temperature water for 2 hours. Once ready, remove everything from the water. Keep the flavoured water for later use.
2. Squeeze out the extra water from the mushrooms. Cut their stems off and then slice the mushroom cups into strips.
3. Slice the carrot into julienne. Finely chop the garlic and ginger.
4. Using your index finger as reference, if the Chinese broccoli stems are too long or big, cut them in half so that they are easy to fry. Wash thoroughly.
5. Place the broccoli in a saucepan filled with room temperature water. Bring the pan to boil and then blanch them for a minute. Remove the broccoli from the heat and then run under tap water for a minute to cool down. They should still feel firm when pressing. Keep the broccoli in a sieve to get rid of excess water.
6. Mix the rice wine, XO sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl, set aside.
7. Heat a wok until very hot. Add 20g vegetable oil followed by the mushrooms. Fry them for 1 minute and then add salt, white pepper and sugar.
8. Continue frying for another minute and then add a few drops of dark soy sauce for the colour.
9. Add the carrot and beancurd knots. Fry for 2 minutes until you see most of the moisture is evaporated.
10. Add the XO sauce mixture and then fry for 30 seconds. Add 150ml flavoured water and then simmer for 2 minutes at low heat.
11. Add the broccoli and then turn up to medium high heat. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
12. Add light soy sauce and optional splash of sesame oil to taste.
13. Mix the cornflour and water together and then add to the wok, this will thicken the sauce a bit.
14. Cook for another minute and then it is ready to serve.