I don’t think I’ve ever had this outside of home. It’s another one of those classic Fuzhou comfort foods that reminds me of childhood, yet difficult to find in restaurants. It’s quite simple to make and generally pretty healthy, just a generous collection of vegetables in a rich soup, pronounced 什烩菜 (ja2 hui4 cai4).
Ingredients
dried bean curd
firm tofu
black mushrooms, 冬菇
black fungus, 木耳
prince mushrooms, 王子菇 [optional]
fried pork skin (see packaging below)
cabbage
vermicelli
chicken broth (or some other meat broth)
skin trimmed from pork belly [optional]
celery [optional]
dried scallops [optional]
salt
Steps
First, soak the dried bean curd, mushrooms, black fungus, vermicelli, and fried pork skin in water, then drain. These should soak in different bowls for different amounts of time.
Bean curd: 2 hours
Mushrooms: 2 hours if whole, 30 minutes if you split it in quarters
Black fungus: 20 minutes
Vermicelli: 15 minutes
Fried pork skin: 30 minutes
[Optional] If you are making a separate pork belly dish, you can skin the pork belly and cut into little strips. Flash boil the skins by putting it in boiling water for a short period of time. Set this aside for later.
Heat up a wok with oil. Stir fry the cabbage, pork belly, and fungus.
Add mushrooms. Celery is optional.
After that, fill the wok with chicken broth. Make sure the soup has already been brought to a boil separately. Pour the soup around the sides of the wok. DO NOT pour the soup in the middle (it will ruin the taste).
Add bean curd, fried pork skins, and tofu. Optionally add some dried scallops (just washed, not previously soaked; if you soak, you'll lose the taste).
Cover the wok and bring to a boil on high heat. After it's boiling, then turn the heat to medium. Cook for 30 minutes. You should check that all the foods are fully cooked (especially the bean curds).
Add salt to taste.
And you're done!