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["Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in water to reconstitute.", "Make slight decorative cuts in the tops, but leave the mushrooms whole so they look like pine cones.", "Set aside the soaking liquid for later use.", "Cut the chicken thigh into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle lightly with sake and salt.", "Cut the taro root into pieces with 6 or 8 sides, if possible.", "Cut the boiled bamboo shoot into bite-sized pieces.", "Cut the carrot into 1 cm rounds and use a flower-shaped cutter to form flowers.", "Make a diagonal slit in each flower with a knife, and twist to make it look like a plum blossom.", "Cut the konnyaku into 5 mm slices and cut a slit in the center of each slice.", "Feed one end through the slit to make a twisted knot.", "Peel the lotus root and soak in water with vinegar.", "Cut ""v"" shapes between the holes and round off the corners to make a flower shape.", "Cut into 1 cm slices.", "Cut the burdock root in 5 mm slices diagonally and soak in water with vinegar.", "The burdock root represents bamboo.", "Remove the strings from the snow peas and blanch in salted water.", "Drain, then plunge in ice water to stop the cooking and to keep the bright green color.", "Cut the snow peas in half.", "Parboil the taro, konnyaku, lotus root, and burdock root.", "Drain in a colander.", "Heat oil in a pot and stir-fry the chicken with the burdock root.", "When the chicken is cooked through, take them out of the pot.", "Add the other vegetables and quickly stir-fry.", "Put all of the ingredients, except the lotus root, back in the pot, add the sugar, sake, dashi powder, soaking liquid from the shiitake mushrooms, and water.", "Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off the scum, and continue cooking for a short time.", "Add the lotus root, soy sauce and salt; cover with a drop-lid and simmer for 10 minutes.", "Add the mirin and cook over high heat until it's shiny.", "Transfer to a serving dish, and it's ready."]
