Chinese New Year Dish 蠔士髮菜 (dried oysters, hair algae)

This is a must have dish in our family mainly because we love dried oysters but also because it's one of those good fortune dishes that's essential to Chinese New Year although different families have different combos of good luck stuff. The Chinese name for dried oysters (ho see) sounds the same as "good things" and the hair algae (fat choy) sounds like the great wealth in "Gung Hey Fat Choy).  So in this isolating New Year, if I make only one Chinese New Year dish, this is the one I'm making.  We would usually have a casserole of this so that we have it for New Year's Eve but would also have it for the New Year.

For this dish, I also count some of my ingredients.  I have 16 oysters, 8 (translates as "fat" or wealth) per casserole.  I have 18 shitake mushrooms - 18 is a good number (wealth for sure!) but divide that by 2 is 9 - the number 9 has the same sound as the character (久) that means lasting a long time.   I have a total of 8-9 ingredients for the dish and of course both are good numbers as one can gather by now...;-)

Other than the oysters and shitake, the other ingredients are not as easily counted so just go with what you have.   "Fat choy" is very expensive and there are some fake stuff around. A cousin gave me a substantial supply more than 10 years ago and I am now down to a minimal supply that may last me a few more years if I only cook it once a year.  You only need a 5 in. by 6 in. piece as it expands when soaked for a half hour in water.  These are the three main ingredients. You can improvise the rest of the ingredients depending on what's available.  I have used here the following (clockwise):  

bamboo shoots (canned) - may need to be blanched in boiling water for 10 minutes to get rid of the smell typical of bamboo shoots

quail's eggs hardboiled and deshelled (18! they sell them fresh now in Chinese groceries but also available canned); 

dried lily (soaked for a few hours) Fresh enoki mushrooms would be a better choice, but I forgot about it so used this to make up the 8 incredients but in the end added enoki when I remembered so ended up with 9 incredients, all good);

dried fish stomach (soaked for a few hours);

Dried cloud fungi 雲耳 (soaked for 1 hour)

Dried shitake (soaked for 5-6 hours)

Dried oysters (soaked for 3-4 hours); These are available frozen from Chinese herbal medicine stores. Try to get the medium sized ones that looked brown and not puffed up. They are usually not as good if they are too big and may not be as tasty.  Price is around $30 CAD per lb in 2020.  You get what you paid for.

Fat choy (available from Chinese herbal stores but watch out for fake, especially if too cheap)

Half a brick of red fermented soy bean curd 南乵泉 (optional)

Other possible substitutes include soy bean curd (my choice if it were available), deep fried tofu pockets (豆腐卜), or whatever you have around the house.

Heat up some oil in a pan, separately brown the hard-boiled quail's eggs, shitake, dried oysters, and bamboo shoots.   Remove from pan, then heat up the fermented soy bean curd in the pan and toss the shitake, cloud fungi, fish stomach, dried lily, bamboo shoots into it. Add a cup of chicken stock, a cup of water and 3 teaspoons (or to taste) of premium soy sauce and simmer for about half an hour.  At the end of the half hour, add the dried oysters and simmer for another 15 minutes.  When done, add the Fat choy and quail's eggs and simmer for another 5 minutes, making sure there is at least a half cup or more of liquid left as the fat choy will soak it all up.  

It is important to leave the fat choy in one clump and not break it up because it would disappear into the other ingredients if broken up.  You can dig into it at dinner.

恭喜發財! (Gung hei fat choy!)

Contemporary "Chop suey"

"Chop suey" is a standard North American Chinese dish containing a mix of vegetables and meat.  It doesn't exist in China nor in the home cooking of most Chinese families.  The words "chop suey" literally means "odds and ends" - translated into contemporary household language - whatever is in your fridge or pantry.  So if you are expecting the traditional "Chop suey" in this recipe, you will be disappointed.  But open your mind to experimenting with combining the varying textures and tastes from stuff left in your fridge, you will find it an amazing creative experience.

I started this "recipe" quite accidentally when I was preparing a lunch for myself.  Not having had quinoa for more than a year, I decide to make some in a pot with soup stock in my fridge.  In the following half an hour I added one after another bits and pieces of stuff I found in my fridge, quite randomly and serendipitously.  This resulted in an interesting and colourful concoction which turns out to be quite tasty.

I offer up this "recipe" which is essentially just a guideline. It's up to you to put in whatever suits your fancy but always keeping in mind what kind of texture and taste it will produce for you and how the cooking time may vary.   

Start with 1 1/2 cup soup stock, 3/4 cup quinoa.  1 small onion chopped.  Sauté onion in a tablespoon of olive oil in a pot, then add soup stock and quinoa.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes to cook.

Meanwhile in another pan, sauté half cup each of chopped green pepper and chopped red pepper, add 1/2 to 1 cup chopped king mushrooms with dash of wine.  King mushrooms are great for texture as it doesn't overcook as easily as other kinds of mushrooms, but feel free to substitute, keeping in mind that overcooked mushrooms can become watery.

When the quinoa is almost cooked, add the peppers and mushrooms, half cup of frozen or canned corn. Add 3/4 cup cut up cooked pork or chicken (bbq pork, leftover chicken, turkey) if you are not a vegetarian. Add 3/4 cup canned black beans if you are not adding meat.  Add 1/2 to 1 cup cubed tofu.  Stir and cook for another five minutes.  If mixture is watery, turn up the heat to reduce.  It should be fairly dry when ready. 

To cover all the grounds and balance out the meal, serve with some leafy green vegetables like spinach or broccoli, Chinese veggies like choy sum or pok choi.  

Everything can be substituted. Quinoa can be substituted with rice but cooking time will be longer.  I'm thinking cut up zucchini might be a good addition too. And I know Chop suey fans would probably want to use noodles. But it would be a completely different dish because noodles don't mix as well as quinoa or rice.  So save that for another time!   Happy creating!