Preparation
Soak the dried jujubes in 1/3 cup water for 6 to 8 hours. Drain them and remove the seeds, if you wish.

Soak the ginkgo nuts, if you are using fresh ones, in 1/3 cup water for 2 hours. Then drain and peel them.

Rinse the chinese mushrooms and soak them in 1 cup hot water for half an hour. Then simmer them, covered, in the same water with a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil for 15 minutes. Cut off the stems and discard. Slice the caps in half. Reserve the mushroom liquid in case you need it.

Soak the mung-bean noodles in 6 cups cold water for half an hour. Drain and put them in a bowl.

Soak the hair seaweed in a mixture of 1/2 cup hot water and 1/2 cup shaohsing wine or dry sherry for an hour. Then swish the seaweed in its soaking water, rinsing it and separating the strands. Drain and put it in a saucer, separating the strands again.

Soak the tree ear fungus in 1 cup water for half an hour and the silverear fungus in a separate cup the same amount of time. Drain both and rinse under running water. Feel with your fingers off any hard, coarse sections or knots. Put them together in a bowl.

Cut each bean-curd skin, crosswise, into three pieces and rinse in hot water.

Put the fried bean curd and the wheat gluten in a sieve and pour about 6 cups boiling water over them. Gently squeeze the water out of them and put them together in a bowl.

Cooking
Arrange all your ingredients near the stove. Now heat the 5 tablespoons oil in a wok or a wide saucepan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the ginger and the 5 cm lengths of scallion. Stir and fry until they turn brown. Remove the ginger and scallion pieces with a slotted spoonand discard them.

Put in the tree ear and silver ear fungus. Stir once. Add the fried bean curd, wheat gluten, carrot, snow peas, ginkgo nuts, jujubes, and mushrooms. Stir and fry for 1 minute. Add the cellophane noodles, hair seaweed (make sure that the strands are separated), bean-curd skin, stock, salt and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes. There should he some liquid left at the bottom of the wok. If there is not, add some of the mushroom liquid. Add the sesame oil and stir. Turn off the heat.

Sprinkle with sliced scallions and minced coriander just before serving.

This dish can be made ahead of time and reheated.

It is customary for many people in hong kong, especially those of buddhist ancest, to eat vegetarian food on the first day of the chinese new year. Large white radishes are hung in doorways for good luck - banging into them is considered auspicious - peach blossom branches and potted mandarin orange plants, all loaded with fruit, are decoratively scattered about the house. Fried melon seeds are nibbled on and, when it comes to sitting down and eating, many homes serve buddha's delight and rice.

In fact, just before new year's day, the grocery stores are filled with clear plastic packages containing all the dry ingredients needed to make this dish. The ingredients are many: dried black mushrooms; a dried seaweed that resembles crinkly hair; mung-bean cellophane noodles; dried bean-curd skin; tree ear fungus, both black and silver; gingko nuts; and red chinese jujubes. To these dry ingredients are added fresh vegetables. The vegetables can vary. One may put in carrots and snow peas. Or one may add baby corn, straw mushrooms, and chinese cabbage.

There is a certain amount of preparation that has to he done in advance - a lot of soaking, the first ingredient requiring 6 to 8 hours. But the dish cooks quickly and easily.