Glass Noodles with Mushrooms and Chinese Broccoli

Place the noodles in a bowl and cover with cold water. They need to soak for at least 30 minutes but can easily handle being soaked longer in the refrigerator.

Bring a big pot of water to a full boil and have at the ready to cook the noodles.

Peel and mince garlic, peel and grate ginger.

Mince two of the green onions and slice the rest, keep these separated.

Rinse the Chinese broccoli and separate the leaves from the stems. Shred the leaves and cut the stems in long thin pieces. If using regular broccoli, separate the florets from the stems, cut the florets into small ½-inch size pieces and the stems into long thin strips.

Measure Szechuan peppercorns, oyster sauce, light soy and dark soy.

Heat a deep heavy-duty skillet or wok on high heat until very hot. Right before I add the oil, I turn the heat down to medium high. Make sure you have a slotted spoon ready to remove the Szechuan peppercorns if using.

Add the oil to the hot pan, add the Szechuan peppercorns and immediately start removing them. These numbing little peppercorns will impart their unique flavor and sensation instantly and start to burn, so take them out fast.

After removing the peppercorns, quickly add the ginger, garlic and minced scallions. Sauté for 20 seconds and immediately follow with the mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms with the aromatics, stirring frequently.

While you are sautéing the mushrooms, add the broccoli stems (and florets if you are using regular broccoli) to the boiling water and follow immediately with the glass noodles and stir a few times. Cook the noodles and broccoli for 2 minutes and drain.

After the mushrooms start to wilt and brown slightly (this should take about the same time as cooking the noodles and broccoli), add the Chinese broccoli leaves and scallions that have been cut on the bias and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the drained noodles and cooked broccoli to the mushrooms and toss with the oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy and sugar cooking just until everything is warm. Turn off the heat and serve.