Coconut & Lime

Ingredients:

Filling:
12 dried shiitake mushrooms
8 large cabbage leaves
1 carrot, julienned
1 onion, julienned
2 stalks celery, julienned
2 oz dried bean thread noodles
1 /2 cup fresh hon-shimeji mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup green onions
1 tablespoon oil

Sauce:
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

First, rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms in rehydrated in 1 cup water for about 15 minutes. Reserve the liquid and chop the mushrooms. At the same time, in a small bowl, soak the noodles for about 10 minutes or until softened. Drain, then chop into 3-4 inch pieces. While you are waiting for all that to soak, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients and set aside. In a wok or large sauce pan, heat oil until very hot. Add the both types of mushrooms, carrot, celery, green onions, and noodles, stir fry for about 1 minute. Add the sauce and cooking, stirring occasionally, until mixture is heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Steam the cabbage leaves for about 3 minutes or until just pliable. Drain and rinse with cool water. Stuff each leaf with about 1/8 of the mixture. To fill: place the leaf in your hand, open side up, place the bit of mixture towards the stem end and roll towards the other end. Repeat until all of the leaves are full*. Place leaves in a bamboo steamer. Bring the reserved mushroom liquid to a boil in the wok. Arrange the bamboo steamer (or other steamer) on top and steam for about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.



*If you have leftover filling, it makes a yummy filling for dumplings. You can steam them right along side the cabbage rolls.

My thoughts:

A great way to turn some odds and ends of produce: just one carrot, some leftover mushrooms, a couple of stalks of celery, a small knob of ginger into a healthy, easy meal. The flavor is wonderful too, fresh with a just a hint of ginger.