Featured recipe

Liangban mu'er

Wood ear mushroom salad

Every noodle shop and dumpling house in Beijing and Harbin has a fridge of liangcai, the cold dishes ordered alongside the main meal, and liangban mu'er is one of the most popular: black wood ear fungus, which grows wild in the northeastern forests, blanched and tossed with black vinegar, garlic, chilli and coriander. It has almost no taste of its own but a lovely crunchy, bouncy bite, and it soaks up the tangy dressing. A portion is about 60 kcal. The common mistake is soaking the dried fungus in hot water to save time; it comes out limp. Use warm water for 15 minutes, or cold water for an hour, for the best crunch. Chef's tip: plunge the blanched fungus straight into iced water; it firms up and stays snappy.

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65 min

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