Instructions: In a medium bowl, soak wood ears in cold water to cover for 2 hours to soften. Drain and discard water. Remove any hard spots and carefully rinse under cold water to remove any dirt. Roughly cut into 1 1/2 inch-square pieces.

In a medium bowl, soak mushrooms in 1/2 cup cold water for about 30 minutes to soften. Drain and squeeze dry, reserving soaking liquid. Cut off and discard stems, leaving caps whole.

In a small bowl, soak lily buds in 1/4 cup cold water for 30 minutes to soften. Drain and discard water. Remove hard ends from buds and tie each lily bud into a knot.

Set aside chicken wings. With a cleaver, chop chicken through bone into bite-sized pieces (or disjoint into serving pieces). Using a paring knife, scrape ginger to remove peel and cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices.

In a large pot, combine wood ears, lily buds, chicken wings, ginger, peanuts, pork, mushroom soaking liquid and 3 cups cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add mushrooms and return to a boil. Cover; reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.

Uncover pot and increase heat to high. Add chopped chicken (or pieces) and rice wine and return to a rolling boil. When chicken is just cooked, remove from heat. Serve immediately, piping hot (no more than 1 1/2 cups for each person). A serving should include something of everything in the pot.

Notes: Wood ear, mushrooms that are also known as cloud ear, tree ear or silver ear, are sold in Asian markets, fresh and dried. Lily buds, also called tiger lily buds and golden needles, are available in cellophane packages in Asian markets and must be soaked in water before use.

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