Spicy Asian mushroom stir-fry with Chinese sausage and tomato

If you’re well-organised and confident with a knife, this tasty stir-fry can be on the table in less time than it takes to order take-out. Lup cheong is a dried sausage revered by the Chinese for its sweet, smoky taste. Teamed with delicate mushrooms and chilli, it makes this almost-vegetarian dish the perfect "mid-weeker" for the time-poor.

• serves

  2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  8 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 300 g mixed Asian mushrooms, such as shitake, shimeji, oyster, baby king brown and enoki
• 2 bunches asparagus, cut into thirds diagonally
• 60 g (2) lap cheong (see Note), cut into 2 mm thick slices diagonally
• 4 spring onions, sliced, white and green part reserved separately
• 1 tbsp finely sliced ginger
• 150 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chilli bean sauce (see Note)
• 3 tsp light soy sauce
• pinch of sugar
• brown rice, to serve

Instructions

Slice larger mushrooms like king brown, shitake and oyster into slices. Separate shemeji and enoki mushrooms into small clumps.

Heat 1½ tbsp of the oil in a wok over high heat. Add all the mushrooms except for the enoki and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until golden and tender. Remove from the pan. Add the remaining oil and asparagus and cook for 1 minute. Add the lap cheong, ginger and white part of the spring onion. Stir-fry for 1–2 minutes until the lap cheong is golden and the asparagus is almost cooked. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for 1 minute until the tomato starts to soften. Add the chilli bean sauce, soy sauce, sugar and 2 tsp water. Cook briefly to combine, then return the reserved mushrooms and enoki mushrooms to the wok and toss until heated through. Stir through the remaining spring onions. Serve immediately.

Note

• Lap cheong and chilli bean sauce are available in the Asian section of the supermarket and from Asian grocers.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Lynsey Fryers.

Song oval platter from Papaya.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.