Chinese Moo Shu Pork (Chinese Style Burritos)

Moo Shu Pork

Moo shu pork, from the northern Chinese province of Shandong, began appearing in American Chinese restaurants in the late 1960s. This Chinese burrito consists of mandarin pancakes filled with a stir-fried mixture of shredded pork, mushrooms, cloud ears, tiger lily buds, scallions, bamboo shoots, Napa cabbage, scrambled eggs and bean thread noodles. Each pancake is first spread with a little hoisin sauce and a few spoonfuls of pork mixture before being wrapped into a burrito like package.

The mandarin pancakes can be made ahead of time and steamed or reheated in aluminum foil in the oven just before serving. They can even be frozen. While this dish is most often made with pork, it can just as easily be made with chicken, beef, lamb or even shrimp. In fact you could also use ham or any leftover meat in your refrigerator. Use your imagination, but try the recipe as written the first time.

In my next hub, I will provide a recipe and directions for making mandarin pancakes that are also used with Peking duck.

Difficulty:

Easy

Preparation Time:

30 Minutes

Cooking Time:

60 Minutes

Ingredients:

8 Oz. Lean Pork (cut into matchstick strips)

1 Teaspoon Thin Soy Sauce

1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

1 Teaspoon Dry White Wine

¼ Teaspoon Sugar

1/8 Teaspoon Pepper

Mix together in a bowl and let marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

4 Eggs

¼ Teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Oil

Beat the eggs and salt and make a pancake in a medium sized frying pan preheated with the oil in it. Cut into one-inch squares.

6 Chinese Mushrooms (soak in hot water, discard stems and shred into matchstick strips)

3 Scallions (cut into 1 ½ inch lengths and then split in quarters lengthwise)

1 Teaspoon minced Ginger Root

3 Tablespoons Oil

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1/3 Cup Cloud Ears (soak in hot water and cut in half)

25 Dried Tiger Lily Buds (soak 15 minutes, cut in half and remove any hard parts)

½ Cup Bamboo Shoots (cut into matchstick size strips)

1 Cup Shredded Napa Cabbage (shred crosswise)

1 Oz. Bean Thread Noodles (soak in hot water and cut into 3 inch lengths with a scissors)

Sauce Mixture:

2 Tablespoons Black Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon thin Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Dry White Wine

4 Tablespoons Water

½ Teaspoon Sugar

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil (stir in at the end)

Chinese Mandarin Pancakes (allow 4 per person, steam until hot or reheat in an oven wrapped in aluminum foil)

Hoisin Sauce (spread a spoonful on each pancake before adding 2-3 spoonfuls of pork mixture)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and lightly brown the ginger, scallions and mushrooms.
2. Stir-fry the pork until it is no longer pink.
3. Add the cloud ears, lily buds, cabbage and bamboo shoots and continue cooking until they are heated through.
4. Stir in the sauce mixture and cook for 30 seconds more.
5. Finally, add in the eggs and the bean thread noodles and swirl in the sesame seed oil.

Serve hot in a bowl with 4 mandarin pancakes per person and a small bowl of hoisin sauce. Each person spreads a teaspoonful of hoisin sauce on each pancake and 2-3 tablespoons of pork mixture and then rolls it up like you would a burrito. This food is meant to be eaten with your hands.

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