Mu shu chicken

4 tablespoons groundnut oil;

2 eggs, lightly beaten;

1 garlic clove, crushed and finely chopped;

1 tablespoon freshly grated root ginger;

9 oz skinless chicken breast fillets, diced;

1 tablespoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry;

2 dried Chinese mushrooms, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and finely diced;

1 small carrot, diced;

2 oz preserved mustard greens or gherkins, finely diced, or courgettes;

2 oz dried wood ear mushrooms, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and finely chopped, or diced fresh shiitake or chestnut mushrooms;

1 handful of dry-roasted peanuts;

2 tablespoons light soy sauce;

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil;

2-3 pinches of ground white pepper.

12 small wheat flour pancakes, steamed in a bamboo steamer for 5-6 minutes or 12 leaves from a small iceberg lettuce.

Heat the wok and add the remaining groundnut oil. Stir-fry the garlic and ginger for a few seconds, then add the chicken and cook for 1 minute until it starts to turn slightly brown. Add the rice wine or sherry and stir well. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the dried Chinese mushrooms and carrot and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the mustard greens, gherkins or courgettes, the dried or fresh mushrooms, the bamboo shoots and peanuts and mix well. Stir in the scrambled eggs. Season with the soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper and transfer to a serving dish.
To serve, place the dish in the centre of the table together with the pancakes in the steamer or the lettuce leaves. To eat, fold a pancake in half and then in half again to give a fanned conical shape, stuff the pancake with the chicken filling and eat immediately. Alternatively, stuff each lettuce leaf with the filling.