Spicy Sichuan black bean pork and tofu with dandelion greens and stem "lo mein". Keto-friendly, low-carb.

So last week I won an Instagram contest for a hand-carved dandelion stamp from EnchangingStamps on Etsy by sharing my favorite dandelion recipe.  I shared how, not being a huge fan of bitter flavors, I liked mixing dandelion greens (which are superfoods), into spicy dishes, where the heat mitigates some of the bitterness. My all-time favorite is a pork and tofu dish, inspired by Sichuan Mapo. It's rich with chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, black bean paste, and, of course, pork fat!

But I've never shared the recipe on my blog :( . . . In fact, I never shared ANY dandelion recipes on my blog! I think it's because there are so many great dandelion recipes out there, I haven't created any original ones myself.

But mixing spicy Asian flavors with bitter dandelions is something that I haven't seen anywhere else, so I'm making today the day I share it with you.

Spicy, sour Sichuan wood ear mushroom salad. Vegan, foraged wild mushrooms

We are officially in the middle of December and Texas mushroom hunting is still going strong. . . though it's a little more complicated than it was in November. This week we saw temps in the 50s, with cold rain, then a drop to 34! Finally the week ended with a spell in the low 70s. I've been harvesting winter mushrooms: oysters, velvet foot, and wood ear like crazy. Most has been going into the dehydrator, but I've been enjoying stir fries, mushroom sauces, soups. . .and this amazing salad.

Wood ear mushrooms are a staple of Chinese cuisine, where they are appreciated not just as food, but as natural medicine. Western science has recently validated wood ear as effective against tumors, as an anti-coagulant, hypoglycemic, among others. Wood ear mushrooms are mild in flavor (they absorb whatever they are cooked in), and gelatinous and somewhat chewy in texture. Marinated wood ears are a popular cold appetizer in Sichuan (Schezwan) Chinese cuisine. They are spicy and sour, slightly sweet, and served with cilantro, chilies and bell peppers. The resulting dish is crisp (from the peppers), chewy (from the mushrooms), and refreshing (from the cilantro).

Spicy Black Bean Fish with Foraged Ramps Recipe

With the trees now fully leafed out, the ephemeral season of the ramp is drawing to a close. Heading out to our patch on Sunday, we found that several ramp leaves are already showing yellow discoloration at the edges. Within a week, maybe a little longer, every leaf in the patch will have wilted to brown and this delicacy can no longer be gathered. 

As with any negative in nature, it's balanced by a positive. Once the leaves reach this state, they do loose a little flavor, it's true; but they can be harvested in great abundance, with impunity. As always, I entreat you not to take the bulb, (how to ID and harvest ramps), but the leaves are soon to die anyway, so you can now freely take a leaf from all the plants. Ramps only use their leaves for photosynthesis for a few short weeks before they become choked out of light; during that time, the pant stores as much energy as it can in the bulb. Now is a great time to harvest an abundance of ramps and freeze them. 

With gathering set to high, it's the perfect time to make a dish which uses a lot of ramp leaves. This is actually my husband's recipe, and it is his wild interpretation of one of our favorite dishes at our favorite restaurant, Chengdu 23. This fish dish is drenched in spicy heat from the peppers, sweetness from the ramps, and the rich earthy-ness of fermented soy beans. The ramps dramatically change the character of the leek-based original, which lacks the sweet onion note of the wild version, but has a denser, more fibrous texture. To retain that element, feel free to use a mixture of both ramps and cultivated leeks.