DINGWU VEGETARIAN PLATTER

Steps:

• Black moss: Bring to the boil with some water then rinse in cold water to remove dust and grit.
• Fried gluten balls: Soak in hot water until soft.
• Dried bean curd sticks: Deep-fry until the oil bubbles and is golden. Remove the sticks and soak them in hot water to remove the fat. Cut the sticks into 6cm pieces then cook gently in a clean pot of water until limp.
• Chinese cabbage: Lightly fry in oil on medium heat for no more than a few seconds. Cut into strips.
• Ginkgo nuts: Crack the shells, blanch the nuts in hot water and remove the skins. (The tinned variety are already cleaned and prepared).
• Winter bamboo shoots: Slice into 1cm thick pieces and deep-fry until golden.
• Lily buds: Soak in warm water until soft. Cut the hard end off the stem and tie the bud in a knot.
• Cloud-ear fungus: Wash thoroughly and pat dry. Dry toast in a wok over moderate heat. It needs very little cooking (not much more than 1 minute), and is then ready to be added to the dish.
• Chinese black mushrooms: Remove stems and put mushroom caps in a saucepan covered with water and bring to the boil. Discard the liquid and wash the mushrooms thoroughly. Return mushrooms to saucepan and cover with water. Make a marinade with salt, ginger and spring onion juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and cornflour and marinate the mushrooms for 10 minutes
• Red dates: Soak in warm water until reconstituted and remove seeds.
• Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the garlic, ginger and spring onion until fragrant, then douse with the rice wine. Add brown bean paste, red and white fermented bean curd and fry until glossy.
• Add the sugar, fried gluten balls, bean curd stick, ginkgo nuts, winter bamboo shoots, lily buds, Chinese black mushrooms, red dates and lotus root and fry together for a few minutes. Add water to just cover the ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes. Mix in cloud-ear fungus for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Reserve the liquid for use in the sauce.
• Using a 22-25cm medium depth bowl (a Pyrex baking-dish depth), layer the ingredient. Place the Chinese mushroom at the very bottom, then some bean-curd sticks, then black moss, ginkgo nuts, lily buds, cloud-ear fungus, fried gluten balls, lotus roots and red dates, then bean curd sticks covered with Chinese cabbage stems.
• Mix some of the cooking liquid reserved above (about 9 fluid oz ) with hoisin sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce and fill up the bowl containing the vegetables. Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap. Steam in a steamer for 45 minutes. Set remaining liquid aside in a saucepan. Remove the bowl from the steamer and take off the covering. Taking a clean, cold plate, angle the bowl to drain the liquid from the vegetables into the saucepan and thicken with wheat starch. Mix together the mustard and vinegar and add to the liquid. This sauce can be adjusted with sugar or more hoisin to taste.
• Slide the vegetable onto a serving platter large enough to hold the 'mould' of vegetables. Spoon over the sauce.