Mrs. Sun's Eight-Treasure Vegetables

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Molly O'Neill is our Food Editor. She is the former food columnist for The New York Times Magazine. O'Neill is the author of three cookbooks, including the best-selling New York Cookbook (Workman Publishing, 1992), A Well Seasoned Appetite (Penguin, 1997), and The Pleasure of Your Company (Viking, 1997). She was the host of the PBS series Great Food, and edited the critically acclaimed anthology American Food Writing (Library of America, 2007). Her latest work, Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball (Scribner, 2006), recounts her childhood of growing up in a Major-League baseball family.

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by Molly O'Neill

This vegetarian standby reflects China’s Buddhist tradition and is often called Buddha’s Delight in restaurants. It is a mainstay of many New Year’s tables because it provides a light counterpoint to the profusion of richer dishes and it is flexible: The vegetables listed below can be exchanged for tofu, lotus root, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts or other vegetables based on preference and availability.

10 dried black mushrooms
20 pieces dried tiger-lily buds (golden needles)
5 pieces dried black fungus (wood ear)
3 carrots, cut in matchsticks
3 stalks celery, cut in matchsticks
1/2 head of Chinese Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
4 ounces bean thread noodles
2 cups bean sprouts
3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 scallion, sliced into quarter-inch pieces

1. Place the black mushrooms, the tiger lily buds, the black fungus and the bean thread noodles each in separate bowls. Cover with hot water and soak until softened, about twenty minutes. Drain and rinse each. Cut the stems off the black mushrooms and slice thinly. Cut the tough bottoms off the tiger-lily buds and black fungus. Leave the tiger-lily buds whole.

2. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the celery. This adds a fresh, crisp element to the dish.

3. Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil begins to smoke, add the black mushrooms and carrots and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the tiger-lily buds, black fungus and cabbage and cook for another couple of minutes. Next add the remaining oil, bean thread noodles, bean
sprouts, salt, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir-fry for another few minutes, until vegetables soften and are completely cooked. Fold in the blanched celery and scallion, toss once, remove from heat and serve.

Serves 6.