Steamed Seitan With Dried Lily Flowers and Mushrooms

Our family’s favorite dish from our youth was chicken, but we’ve found a vegan alternative in Steamed Seitan with Mushrooms and Dried Lily Flowers. For the authentic recipe we’re referring to, please refer to our Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms and Lily Flowers.

Wood ear mushrooms, dried lily flowers, dried shiitake mushrooms, and scallions are used in place of “slippery steamed chicken” in this vegetarian version. The end product is equally as satisfying as the source material.

Ingredients:

• 4 large dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups of “chicken” seitan, regular seitan, or seitan puffs (cut into bite-sized pieces)
• 1 chopped scallion (white and green portions separated)
• 1/3 cup of dried wood ear mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of dried lily flowers
• 1/2 cup of mushroom soaking liquid (strained)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of vegetarian oyster sauce or regular oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine or dry cooking sherry
• 1 teaspoon of grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper

Instructions:

1. Separately, rinse the wood ear mushrooms, lily flowers, and shiitake mushrooms under running water to remove any traces of dirt or dust.
2. Put the mushrooms, lily flowers, and wood ears in their own bowls and cover them with hot water. Indulge in a one- or two-hour soak. Make sure all the dried ingredients get fully rehydrated by covering them with a plate and pressing them down into the water.
3. The reconstituted wood ears should be roughly chopped. Prepare the mushrooms by squeezing out some of the excess water and slicing them (remove any tough stems). Also, make sure to trim the tough ends off the lily flowers and squeeze them dry.
4. Mix the wood ears, mushrooms, lily flowers, liquid from soaking the shiitake mushrooms, wine, oyster sauce, sugar, salt, white pepper, grated ginger, and the scallions (white parts) in a bowl. Blend until the liquid has been absorbed. Wait to use the scallion greens. Marinate the ingredients for at least 30 minutes or up to a full day in the fridge, covered.
5. At cooking time, stir the cornstarch into the mixture until it is completely dissolved. The liquid should now have been absorbed almost entirely, with very little remaining on the surface.
6. Place the contents of the bowl into a deep pie plate or other heat-safe dish and top with the remaining scallion greens. Set a covered steamer over medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
7. To avoid getting water on your dish, remove the steamer’s cover very carefully.
8. Lastly, sprinkle the remaining scallions on top and serve.