The Dinghui Monastery of Yangzhou knows how to braise wood ear until they double their thickness and braise shitake until they triple in thickness.1 Prepare a mushroom broth first to use as the cooking liquid in this recipe.
煨木耳香蕈
揚州定慧庵僧，能將木耳煨二分厚，香蕈三分厚。先取蘑菇熬汁鹵。
Notes:
1Extra thick and extra big? Whenever I hear about how well someone is about to reconstitute some dried food item, a process which is referred in Chinese cuisine as fa (發), I can’t help but think they added something to the soaking liquid. One of the more popular agent’s used for “Fa”-ing meats and dried foods in modern Chinese cuisine is baking soda. A tiny pinch in chicken makes it tender and gives the meat a slight “bounce”, too much gives everything an odd flavour and texture. I’ve had chicken that is so over “fa”-ed that it has the texture of fish. Perhaps the monastery has added something to make their reconstituted wood ears and shitake so thick?
Sean J.S. Chen 