Homemade Moo Shu Pork (Simplified)
I blame my oldest daughter for this—or perhaps I should thank her. Lately she has been waxing nostalgic about her childhood excursions to a (now closed) Chinese Restaurant.
For a do-it-yourselfer like me, this can only be construed as a challenge. So after a recent success making homemade Egg Foo Young, I decided to try my hand at Moo Shu Pork.
Homemade Moo Shu Pork
Three quarters of the way through the original recipe, however, I decided to label it a failure. It was taking so long that I was completely confident I would NEVER make homemade Moo Shu Pork again. But after I finished and called the family to the table I had to think twice. Everyone was literally sprinting from the table back to the serving counter for seconds. This was a monumental hit.
Homemade Moo Shu Pork, Served
A mixture of pork and vegetables, rolled up in a special pancake with plum sauce–it shouldn’t be that hard. Could I streamline the recipe?
And the answer was “yes.” The new version below is still a longer than average recipe, but I welcomed the chance to use (mostly) organic local ingredients (including pastured pork). Tweaking to personal tastes (I loaded up on the fresh ginger for its great flavor and anti-inflammatory properties) created a superior product that is worth it for an occasional indulgence. To maximize the convenience, you could use pre-minced garlic and packaged Cole slaw mix—and I hear some Chinese Restaurants are happy to sell just the pancakes.
Making Homemade Moo Shu Pork
Making Mandarin Pancakes isn’t hard (if you can’t buy them)
When I posted my Egg Foo Young, one of my blogging friends commented that she didn’t even have a local Chinese restaurant. In truth, at our “cabin up north” (where sooooomeday we’ll retire), the nearest Chinese Restaurant is a couple towns away. So I guess I could make it ’cause it’s more fun than a car ride, or delicious, or organic, or loaded with ginger …
Anyone know how to say “Bon Appetit” in Chinese?
Moo Shu Pork Filling
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 lb boneless pork trimmed and cut into 1 x 1/4-inch strips
- 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1/2 cup green onions sliced in 1 inch lengths
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2-3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger I think that peeling, then grating is easiest
- 5 tablespoons rice wine or sake
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 4 cups thinly sliced napa Chinese cabbage leaves (or cole slaw mix)
- Will also need nonstick cooking spray plum sauce & 16 Mandarin Pancakes (see note)
Instructions
- Combine the first 3 ingredients in a container with a lid. Add pork; seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour.
- Cover dried shiitake mushrooms with boiling water in a bowl; let stand 20 minutes. Drain; discard mushroom stems, and thinly slice mushroom caps. Add ginger, garlic and green onions to bowl.
- Combine 3 tablespoons rice wine and next 4 ingredients (3 tablespoons rice wine through black pepper) in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork (most of the marinade will have bee absorbed), and stir-fry 3 minutes. Push to side of pan. Spray the open pan surface with nonstick cooking spray and add beaten eggs; stir-fry 30 seconds or until soft-scrambled. Add shiitake mushrooms mixture, cabbage, then cornstarch mixture, cooking until everthing is tender and sauce is thickened. Place pork mixture on a serving platter.
- Top each pancake with plum sauce and some of the pork mixture; roll up.
i’m so impressed! if i want chinese food, i have to make it myself, and i’m delighted that this is so doable!
I feel like I should try something sweet now to give you some real incentive Grace!
I really shouldn’t look at food blogs when I’m hungry… this looks so good!
Yup, it’s painful but so much fun (and how I get my Pinterest boards stocked with ideas)!
I used to eat this when I was in SF.
How fun! One of my first travel memories was Chinatown in San Francisco!
Oh Inger, you sure impress me with this…moo shoo pork and homemade pancake? They look delicious…very well done.
Have a great day 🙂
Thanks Juliana. I was happy I took the time to make this a little easier.
hi inger! i hv ever tasted moo shoo pork before..i believe this must be a dish originated from china? looks very delicious and yes we love chinese pancakes too and here it is used commonly to wrap chinese peking ducks too.
We can say ” tai kar sik farn” in cantonese for bon appetit..a more casual way and if a more formal way, we can say, ” ching man yoong” in cantonese.
Thank you for the language tips! When I was looking into making this I checked and it does have real Chinese origins. Sometimes some of our “Chinese” dishes here are not very authentic. I didn’t think the pancakes were that hard to make (though mine could have turned out rounder 😉 ) so it’s good to know there are other ways to use them.