Vegetable stock -- (from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking)

16 Chinese black mushrooms
1 tsp salt
4 carrots, washed and scrubbed
1 tsp soy sauce
8 scallions
2 tsp sesame oil
6 outer lettuce leaves
¼ tsp sugar

Rinse the mushrooms quickly in cold water. Wash and scrub the carrots, leaving 4" of their tops on if possible.

Combine the mushrooms, carrots, scallions, lettuce, salt and 5 c water in a 4 qt pot and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for ½ hour. Strain the stock through 3 layers of cheesecloth (discard all the vegetables except the mushrooms. Save the mushrooms for other dishes). Boil down the stock to 4 c. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Mix and check seasonings.

Makes 4 c.

Back to the Table of Contents