We made this on the fly: first, soak about ½ oz dried wakame, broken into 1″ shards (about 1.5 dry cups) in room temperature water for 30 mins; leave soaked until ready to use. At the same time, soak 7-8 dried shiitakes in hot water for 20-30 mins; drain, trim off and discard stems, and cut the mushroom caps into small dice (see Note below). Reserve the mushroom poaching liquid (about 1.5 cups) and set aside. Second, saute ½ lb minced pork (or minced chicken) in a medium Dutch oven until lightly browned. Add finely diced shiitakes and saute for 1 min. Add 6 minced garlic cloves, then add 8 cups liquid (1.5 cups mushroom poaching liquid and 6.5 cups hot water). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1.5 tsp soup soy sauce, and 2 mounded Tbsp (common utensil, not measuring spoon) of Korean beef boullion (sogogi dashida). Stir, then add the wakame without soaking liquid (I use chopsticks to remove the wakame from the liquid). Cover and simmer for 10 additional mins. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve with rice. (May 2021)
Note: As depicted in this photo, we sometimes add a russet potato (peeled and diced), in which case we reduce the dried shiitakes from 8 to 5. We add the diced potato a minute after the diced shiitakes. (Oct. 2022)
Cooking Adventures 