asparagus stir fry

i'm hit and miss with chinese food. you can cut up pretty much any assortment of vegetables and throw them in a wok, but for anyone who's ever seen the opening scene of eat, drink, man, woman (warning: very not vegetarian if you're squeamish) or watched iron chef chinese chen kenichi cook knows there's some serious art and technique behind chinese cookery.
problem is, every chinese restaurant i've been to in chicago has the same menu: fried rice, egg foo yung, etc. it's not bad food, just all the same, plus the nagging suspicion that there might be fish sauce in everything.
it is my goal for the day to learn more about the different cuisines within china (szechwan v. cantonese, are there more?)
for me, this dish turned out pretty good. i have black bean sauce and kung pao sauce and even a vegetarian oyster sauce i got from food fight vegan grocery (it's made from mushrooms), but they're all a bit overpowering. instead, i made the sauce with the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms reduced down with corn starch added. pretty tasty with chile sauce and rice. a combination of white and green asparagus would have been much more attractive, but this is what i had in the fridge.

• 2 small carrots, cut on the bias
• 1 large celery stalk, cut on the bias
• 2 scallions, cut on the bias, white and green parts separated
• 6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 2o min. and sliced (removing the woody core), liquid reserved
• 6 asparagus spears, cut into 1 in. pieces, tips separated
• thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 small green chiles, sliced thin
• 1-2 tbs. light oil (peanut/canola/vegetable)
• 1 tbs corn starch
• 1-2 tbs soy sauce to taste
  
• cilantro for garnish

first, put the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms on the stove to reduce. when you have about a half cup, let it cool, and when it's body temp or less add the corn starch, whisk and set aside. get a wok on full whack (heh) and when it's smoking away add the oil, then the white part of the scallions, the carrots, celery, and chiles. stir and toss vigorously for about a minute, then add asparagus stems and the mushrooms. stir and toss for another minute, then add the ginger, garlic, and asparagus tips. stir and toss for about thirty seconds until very fragrant, then add soy sauce, toss, then add mushroom liquor/corn starch mixture and toss to coat. the liquid should thicken immediately and you should be left with just a little bit of sauce clinging to all the veg. kill the heat and sprinkle in the green part of the scallions. serve with white rice and garnish with cilantro. i was cooking for one again, but had leftovers.