When Life Gives You Fungus

Day 135: They say that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. What course of action is recommended when life gives you fungus? Having no idea how much cloud-ears would swell when rehydrated, I broke off an ambitious half of a block which when whole measured 2 1/2" x 1 1/4" x 3/8", to reconstitute for my hot-and-sour soup. The resultant expansion filled a quart jar! Not one to waste a single scrap of fungal material, I did a quick assessment of the contents of the fridge to see what other main dish I might make to include them. A stir-fry of carrot, napa cabbage, green onion, bamboo shoots (also left over from the soup), barbecue pork and fungus quickly came together, flavoured with soy sauce and brown sugar, and topped with a garnish of spring onions and sesame seeds. This was served over white rice with a snowskin mooncake on the side for dessert (let it be noted that these mooncakes freeze beautifully with no loss of taste/texture to the skin or the custard filling). Even after preparing enough for three meals, I still have a pint of cloud-ears in the fridge!