Ingredients:

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   2      tablespoons   hot bean sauce
   1 1/2  cups          chicken broth
   4      ounces        bean threads or Chinese
   1      tablespoon    soy sauce
                        rice vermicelli
   1      tablespoon    dry sherry
   3                    dried mushrooms
   2      tablespoons   peanut oil
   1      small         red/green hot chili pepper
   6      ounces        lean ground pork -- or chicken
   3                    green onions
   2                    cilantro sprigs -- for garnish
   2      tablespoons   minced fresh ginger

Preparation:

Place bean threads and dried mushrooms in separate bowls. Cover each with hot water. Let stand 30 minutes; drain. Cut bean threads into 4-inch pieces. Squeeze out excess water from mushrooms. Cut off and discard stems; cut caps into thin slices. Cut chili pepper in half and scrape out seeds. Finely mince chili pepper. Thinly slice 2 of the green onions. Cut remaining onion into 1 1/2 inch slivers and reserve for garnish. Combine ginger and hot bean sauce in small bowl. Combine chicken broth, soy sauce and sherry in medium bowl. Heat oil in wok or large skillet over high heat. Add pork or chicken and stir-fry until meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Add chili pepper, sliced onions and ginger-bean sauce mixture. Stir-fry until meat absorbs color from bean sauce, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth mixture, bean threads and mushrooms. Simmer, uncovered until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Garnish with onion slivers and cilantro.