- ¼ cup hijiki
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup well-drained, julienned bamboo shoots
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into julienne strips
- 5 tablespoons dashi
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
- Rinse off the hijiki quickly under cold running water. Put it to soak in 4 cups of warm water for 30 minutes.
- Lift the hijiki out of the water, leaving all the grit behind, then rinse it off again.
- Rinse off the mushrooms quickly and leave to soak in 3 cups warm water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the mushrooms and remove the hard stems. Cut the mushroom caps into 1/8-inch-thick strips.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium flame. When hot, put in the hijiki, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and carrot. Sauté for 1 minute. Add the dashi, salt, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer. Cover, lower heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- Remove cover, turn up the flame a bit and boil off most of the liquid, stirring gently as you do so. This last step should take just a few seconds.