Wood Ear Mushroom and Wakame Salad 木耳とわかめの和物

I made this dish mostly for left-overs control. I can now get fresh wood ear mushrooms from Weee. Previously the only wood ear mushrooms I could get were dried. Although we like fresh wood ear, we get a lot for one order. To make it last longer, as soon as we receive it, I wash it in cold running water and then blanch it. After blanching I wash it again and let it dry a bit on a towel so that there is no obvious surface water. I then place it in a sealable container with layers of paper towels on the bottom. Since the wood ear does not soften by cooking I can repeat this treatment (at least one more time). Besides making it last longer, if you use wood ear for salad, it is better to blanch it before hand. In any case, in addition to the wood ear, I had extra hydrated wakame so I came up with this Japanese style salad or “ae-mono” 和物. The contribution of sea plant and wood ear mushroom to the dish is mostly through their distinctive textures. Nonetheless this is a very refreshing small dish.

Again, this is not a recipe but just a note to myself.

Ingredients:
Blanched and chilled wood ear mushroom, cut into strips
Hydrated wakame sea weed
Sesame seed

Dressing:
Ponzu, sesame oil and olive oil (this is what I used this time)
or
Japanese hot mustard, soy sauce and sugar

These two items went very well together. They were similar in texture but just different enough to make an interesting combination.