Stir-fried cabbage and seafood

This afternoon I spent like 4 hours enjoying some chit-chat time with my girlfriends while sipping a cup of hot Caramel Macchiato. And one macadamia cookie. And one sakura macaron with matcha ganache. What a sweet sugary day, indeed. Then, I just came to realize how I missed having my coffee time with girls. Girls only. Nothing can beat the joy as in laughing and giggling like crazy with friends. I don`t know if it`s because we`re high on sugar or the giggly thing is highly contagious. Anyway, my Saturday afternoon was a blast. Thanks, girls!

Now, I`m going to share another simple homey dish with you, so simple that I was worried if this is good enough to be shared. Well, if it`s not, let me just write it down here for my own journal.
Start with soaking a fistful (or more) of dried shiitake mushroom slices in a bowl of water. Oh yes, I`m being a good girl now. Following the instruction on the pack is what I (should) do.

 While the mushrooms are getting rehydrated, saute garlic and onions with a bit of olive oil.

I used a pack of boiled and sliced squid. Convenience: yes. Freshness: (probably) No. But this is a recipes collection of a me-want-no-fuss housewife. So, please, bear with me.

Chop them up into smaller pieces and toss them into the pan. And add maitake mushrooms too. I know, the mushrooms made a sudden appearance here. Again, bear with me.

Another convenience here is a pack of raw oyster supposedly prepared for sashimi. Just wash it lightly and it`s ready. Unless you live in the same place with me, it`s very likely that you`ll get different kind of packed oysters, please read the pack first to make sure the safe way to consume them.
By the way, I happen to live in Miyagi, a region famous for its oysters. The second largest oyster producer in Japan after Hiroshima. That`s what I`ve heard. But I never tried oysters from other places, so I`m not sure how they are different from others.

Toss them in and season with soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce (oyster sauce doesn`t taste like oysters at all for me), salt, and pepper.

And this is a half cut of 30% off cabbage. Meet me, the shameless wife. I do use (discounted) cabbage like A LOT in my daily cooking. You witness it too here.

Slice it up and toss in. Remember the mushroom? Now is time to add the hydrated mushroom slices and pour in the stock too. But not the whole stock. Save some for the next step.
Stir it a bit and let the cabbage get wilted.

Stir in corn starch in remaining stock. Yes, we`re going to thicken the soup. For a rough measurement, I used 600 ml of water to soak the mushrooms and to the stock I stirred in 1/2 tsp of corn starch.

Pour in the starch mixture and cook it on low heat.

I wanted the soup to be a bit thick (just a bit), but it depends on your liking. If you prefer it soupy, then just leave out the starch. Or if you want it thicker, add some more starch.

Enjoy it with hot steamed rice and seaweed flakes for topping.

p.s. I`m not sure if naming this dish as "stir-fried" is proper, but "braised" seems to be too watery for it. Any idea?


Ingredients:
Garlic
Onion
Dried shiitake mushroom, rehydrated
Maitake mushrooms, chopped
Squid, sliced
Oyster
Cabbage, sliced
Corn starch
Water