Salmon san choy bao

This dish came to fruition when I forgot to buy mince to make san choy bao but happened to have a few salmon fillets in the refrigerator. I wish I could say all my kitchen mistakes worked out so successfully. Serves 4 as an entrée 6 to 8 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and roughly chopped 400g salmon (or ocean trout) fillet, skinless and pin-boned 1 free-range egg white 2tbsp coconut oil or rice bran oil 1 small brown onion, finely diced 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1tsp fresh ginger, finely grated 2tbsp tamari 1tbsp dry sherry (or Shaoxing rice wine if you can tolerate gluten) 1tsp sesame oil 100g water chestnut slices, roughly chopped 100g bamboo shoots, roughly chopped 8 baby cos lettuce cups or ½ head iceberg lettuce, separated 3 spring onions, thinly sliced 1 long red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced lengthways 1Place the dried mushrooms in a small heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water and soak for 20 to 30 minutes or until softened. 2Using a slotted spoon, remove mushrooms, reserving two tablespoons of the soaking liquid. Finely chop the mushrooms. 3Cut

the salmon into 2cm cubes and place in a bowl. Add egg white and toss to coat. 4Heat

one tablespoon of oil in a wok to a high temperature. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and mushrooms and stir-fry until lightly golden, about three minutes. Remove from wok and set aside. 5Heat

the remaining oil in the wok and fry the salmon pieces until golden on all sides. Add the tamari, sherry and sesame oil, and toss to coat. Return the mushroom and onion mix to the wok. Add water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and reserved mushroom liquid and toss to combine. 6Serve

the lettuce cups filled with salmon and top with spring onions and chilli.