Buddha's delight vegetable stew (Luohan zhai)

1. Soak the dried shiitake and wood ear mushrooms for 30 minutes and the glass noodles for 15 minutes in lukewarm water; squeeze out the mushrooms, remove the shiitake stems, tear the wood ears into bite-sized pieces and keep 200 ml of the mushroom soaking water.

2. Thinly slice the ginger and slice the carrot diagonally; cut the bamboo shoots and fried tofu into bite-sized pieces and the Chinese cabbage into wide strips.

3. Heat the oil in the wok and stir-fry the ginger, carrot and mushrooms for 2 minutes.

4. Add the bamboo shoots, tofu and thicker parts of the cabbage, then the reserved mushroom water, soy sauce, sugar and salt, and simmer covered for 5 minutes.

5. Add the cabbage leaves and glass noodles and cook for another 3 minutes until the noodles are translucent.

6. Thicken lightly with the cornflour mixed with water, drizzle with sesame oil and serve with rice.

Tip: The vegetarian dish of Buddhist monks, served in many families on the first day of Chinese New Year. The more vegetables, the "luckier" it is: add mangetout, lotus root or baby corn.