San choi bao is a popular dish at the Lunar New Year, although it can be eaten at any time. Normally, the “lettuce cups” are filled with a meaty mixture that can include pork, quail, or pigeon, but in this version, all the ingredients are plant-based. Like the meaty versions, this filling is a good mix of colours, flavours and textures, and the lettuce cups add a cool, delicate crispness.
This is a dish that invites improvisation. If you can’t find some of the ingredients listed in the recipe, use others. You can add/substitute different types of fresh mushrooms and vegetables, and if you’re vegetarian but not vegan, mix in ribbons of thin egg crepe for more protein. Lotus root – diced or cut into thin matchsticks – is a delicious crunchy addition or can be used in place of the bamboo shoots.
Traditionally, golden thread mushrooms, or Cordyceps militaris, were grown on caterpillars infected with a fungal parasite. These are very expensive and used in traditional Chinese medicine. Now, though, these mushrooms are grown on “farms” without the need for the caterpillars. They have a delicious flavour and slightly chewy texture. If you can’t find them, substitute enoki or shimeji mushrooms.
It takes about three hours to soak the dried Chinese mushrooms; it may be more convenient to soak them overnight in the fridge. The other dried ingredients rehydrate quickly. Once all the ingredients are prepared, the dish takes less than 10 minutes to cook.
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