#ewew cooks Braised Mixed Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Oysters

Since my dish of Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy was quite well-received (judging that it was finished very quickly) when I brought it back to Ipoh for Chinese New Year (CNY) last year, I decided to make a slightly bigger batch this year.

I still had two more cans of abalone to finish, so I might as well.  Only this time I added even more types of mushrooms into the mix in my Braised Mixed Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Oysters (my contribution towards the Reunion Dinner).

Ingredients:

50 Chinese dried (tea or small) mushrooms
10 dried oysters
2 cans of abalone (the Moon can yielded six small abalones while the Soon Thye Hang one had twelve)
1 can (big) button mushrooms
1 can straw mushrooms (already halved)
1 combo pack (100g each) of fresh shimeji, maitake & bunapi mushrooms
2 packets (100g each) of enoki mushrooms

For the braising liquid:
7 pairs of chicken feet
15 shallots
750ml liquid from the soaked mushrooms + 2 cans of abalone steeping liquid
3 tbsp cooking oil 
4 tbsp oyster sauce 
1 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce 
1/2 tsp dark soya sauce 

Preparation:

Soak the Chinese dried mushrooms until soften and remove the caps.
Roughly chop or slice the shallots.
Cut away the bottom of the fresh mushrooms stalks (about an inch or so) to separate the mushrooms from one another.
Halve the large button mushrooms and abalone (since they were small ones this time).

Method:

First things first....get the braising liquid ready.  Saute the shallots (until soften but not browned) and chicken feet in oil.  Add in the mushroom caps together with the liquid from the soaked mushrooms as well as all the liquid from the canned abalone as I learned from ieatishootipost recently not to throw away the liquid since the water in a can of abalone has lots of umami flavours (+ my mother-in-law also said the same thing). ^_~

Add in all the seasoning and simmer the stock for at least half an hour.  The deliciousness of the stock is critical to the success of this braised mushroom dish.

The rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms and dried oysters go into the braising liquid first for it to soak in the flavours of the broth and for the dried oysters to soften.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  This year, I substituted the fatt choy with dried oysters as the fatt choy disintegrated when it was heated up (in Ipoh)...and made the sauce very black, so presentation-wise, it wasn't great.  Coz, more often than not, we end up buying fake fatt choy from the markets which disintegrates easily! >:(

As I mentioned earlier, this time I decided to throw in a few more types of fresh mushrooms, namely shimeji, maitake, bunapi and enoki mushrooms (inspired from a stir-fry mushroom dish I once saw Kylie Kwong made).

So, the fresh mushrooms, except enoki (since they cook pretty fast), go in next to allow them to soften.  At this point, you can add in some Shaoxing wine and sesame oil (optional).  Let them braise for a further 3 - 5 minutes.

Then, the rest of the canned mushrooms (button and straw mushrooms) are added in.  These just need to be warmed through since they're canned goods.

Finally, the enoki mushrooms and abalone go into the pot.  The enoki mushrooms soften very fast, so this just needs a minute or two.

This Braised Mixed Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Oysters was my small contribution for the Reunion Dinner table...a must-have auspicious dish for the lunar new year. ^o^

If you need to cook a dish either to bring to your hometown or when you visit your in-laws, this is the perfect dish to prepare as it keeps and travels very well.  The longer the mushrooms steep in the stock, the better it'll taste and all that needs to be done is to reheat it when you get there.

I have to say that the smaller abalone pieces from the two cans this year were slightly chewier than the ones from last year.  The better ones are still those cans that yield one whole (big) abalone which you can cut into thin slices.

You can add fish maw into the mix for a more decadent dish and serve it alongside some vegetables like broccoli or bok choy.  It's an auspicious dish to cook for CNY as it symbolises all things good (abalone for good fortune, mushrooms for longevity and oysters for good luck).  There are still a few days more to go before Chap Goh Mei, so it's not too late to cook this dish if you want. ^.^