Cover mushrooms with warm water, let stand for 30 minutes, then drain. Cut off and discard stems; squeeze mushrooms dry, thinly slice and set aside. In a bowl, combine soy, cornstarch, sherry, water and pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat, then stir in 1 1/2 t of the oil and let stand for fifteen minutes to marinate.
Prepare cooking sauce - mix together wateaar, sherry, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch and set aside.
Place a wok or wide frying pan over high heat. When pan is hot, add 2 T of the oil. When oil begins to heat, add garlic and stir once. Add chicken and stir-fry until chicken is opaque (about 3 minutes).
Remove chicken from pan. Add remaining 1 T oil to pan. When oil is hot, add mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Stir-fry for one minutes, adding a few drops water if pan appears dry. Add snow peas and stir-fry for 1 1/2 minutes, adding a few drops more water if pan appearas dry. Return chicken to pan.
Stir cooking sauce, add to pan, and cook, stirrin guntil sauce bubbles and thickens.
Variations: Cashew or Almond Chicken - first toast 1/2 c cashews or blanched almonds in 1 T salad oil over medium-low heat until golden; remove from pan and set aside. Stir in nuts just before serving.
Ingredients:
Chicken
4 Medium-size dried mushrooms
2 t Each soy sauce, cornstarch, dry sherry, water and a dash of white pepper
1 1/2 lb Chicken breasts (skinned, boned, and cut in bite-siz pieces)
3 1/2 T Salad oil
1 sm Clove garlic (minced)
1/2 c Sliced bamboo shoots
1/4 lb Snow peas (ends and strings removed)
Cooking sauce
1/2 c Water
1 T Dry sherry
2 T Oyster sauce
1/4 t Sugar
1 t Sesame oil
1 T Cornstarch