Braised Sea Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms

After being away from the weekend market (since December last year!) I finally had a chance (time!) to go back.  Several weeks away and it seemed like a lot had changed!

First, the sad (bad) news.  Our "suki" for bananas is gone.  While we hope (fervently) that her disappearance is temporary, we just don't know.  (In fact, the fruit stalls seemed fewer than I remember.)  Then, while my favorite kakanin stall was still there, it was being run by someone else.  Worse was that they no longer carried my favorite ube suman!  Aaarrggghhh!

Not all news was bad, though, there's good too!  I love that the plant section was bigger, which meant more plants for sale!  And there was a stall selling organic fertilizer!  I was able to find a couple of dayap plants (cuttings, actually), as well as some herbs. 

But I scored that day!  Fresh shiitake mushrooms are pretty expensive but we chanced upon a stall that was selling the last of their stock.  The saleslady said if we bought the whole lot (a little over half a kilo) she'd shave off a third of the selling price.  Of course I took the deal!

For this dish, I used the last of my abalone XO sauce and my last can of sea asparagus.

First, clean about 250 grams of fresh shiitake mushrooms and cut off the stems.  Drain the liquid from the can of sea asparagus.

Then saute some ginger and white onions.  Add about half a tablespoon of XO sauce and stir fry until fragrant.  Add the mushrooms; splash with a dash of rice wine.  Add a tablespoon each of light soy sauce and oyster sauce (remember that different brands have different levels of flavor) and stir fry.  The mushrooms should give up a little liquid, but if not, add water a bit at a time.  When the mushrooms are almost done, throw in the sea asparagus.  Keep stirring and check seasonings.  Lastly, thicken the dish with cornstarch slurry.  Just before serving, splash a little toasted sesame oil.