Marvelous Mu Shu Pork Without Cabbage!

FLKeysJen's Note:

I love Mu Shu Pork, one of my favorites, and this is different than others here and my cooking teacher's recipe because it does not include cabbage. The bean sprouts add a nice crunch! With fresh sprouts in lieu of canned, it's recommended to snap off the root part, for a prettier effect and it can contain bacteria. Dried mushrooms and dried wood ears (also called auricularia)are incredibly good, and available in cellophane packages in Asian markets. You can find recipes for the mandarin pancakes on Zaar, buy them frozen in Asian markets, or substitute thin flour tortillas.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 chinese ...

Stir-Fry

• 8 ounces boneless lean pork, cut in matchstick pieces
• 3 dried mushrooms (or more, depending on the size)
• 2 dried wood ear mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 1/2 cup sliced bamboo shoot, cut in matchstick pieces (about 4 ounces)
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1/2 cup fat free chicken broth
• 2 cups bean sprouts (about 4 oz.)
• 2 green onions, cut into 1-1/2 inch slivers
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 8 Mandarin pancakes or 8 flour tortillas

Marinade

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons shao xing wine or 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Omelet

• 1 teaspoon peanut oil or 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Flavoring Sauce

• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon shao xing wine or 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

1. Place dried mushrooms and wood ears in small bowl and cover with hot water; let stand 30 minutes.
2. Combine marinade ingredients in large bowl; add pork and stir to coat; let stand 30 minutes.
3. Drain and squeeze excess water out of mushrooms and wood ears; cut off and discard mushroom stems and cut caps into thin slices. Pinch out hard nobs from center of wood ears and discard; cut wood ears into thin strips.
4. Omelet: heat oil in small nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the eggs and tilt skillet to cover bottom. Cook just until egg is set. Loosen edges, turn omelet over and cook the other side five seconds; remove from skillet. When omelet is cool, cut crosswise into 1/8-inch wide strips.
5. Combine all flavoring sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
6. Stir-Fry: Heat oil in wok or large skillet over high heat; add ginger and stir once; add pork and stir-fry until meat is no longer pink, about two minutes. Add mushrooms, wood ears, bamboo shoots, carrot and broth; stir and toss two minutes. Add bean sprouts and stir-fry one minute.
7. Stir flavoring sauce; pour into wok and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce bubbles and thickens. Stir in omelet strips and green onions.
8. To serve, spread about two teaspoons hoisin sauce on each pancake. Spoon one-eighth of the pork mixture down center and roll up.

Reviews

[dianegrapegrower]

Good, but difficult to rate this recipe. Flour tortillas were not a good sub for Mandarin pancakes (and I've never seen the later in local stores) Bamboo shoots added a bitter note that I didn't like. Subbed cabbage for sprouts, because we like it - but it didn't quite blend with the seasonings - added hoisin to compensate. (not the recipe's fault, and did not detract from the rating) All that being said, the sauces were well balanced and tasty, the ratio of meat to veges was good. I'll wait until I find/make the Mandarin pancakes to make this again, and then I'll omit the bamboo (personal preference)

[Benthe (Danish)]

Made for Zingo ZWT4 – Marvelous is absolutely right. Great Mu Shu. Made both with and without Cabbage, both got all thumbs up. DBF wants me to make it again tomorrow. Thanks Jen.