Waste Not--Shiitake Stem 冬菇蒂

With the affordable price of dry shiitake mushroom these days, most people just throw away the woody stems and use only the tender caps.  I remember when I was little though, my grandmother would come up with many ways to eat the stems.  The trick is to soak them really well and cook for a good long time. This is probably the easiest way.  After soaking it for almost a day, the tough bits on the end of the stems are cut off and then the whole lot is cooked slowly with the soaking liquid, sugar and soy sauce for about and hour and a half.  The stems become very tender but with a good bit and the mushroom flavour is full, more so than the caps.  It is a wonderful cold side dish.