Moo Shu Pork With Mandarin Pancakes

I'm so excited I could bust! We're taking the slow boat to China and other Asian locals for one of those "theme week" mini vacations that we enjoy so much and you all are coming along. No passports required - which is a darn good thing since mine has expired and I'm waiting till I lose 20 pounds to send for a renewal so I don't have to lie in the weight category.  LOL

Now that we've got that out of the way, our first stop on our travels is northern China for a simple dish made with pork, green onions, mushrooms and scrambled eggs all rolled up into thin, delicate Mandarin pancakes, kind of like a Chinese taco.

I have to admit the whole thing is very labor intensive...but not for me! I only got to help with the pancakes and the big guy did the rest. Aren't I the lucky one? 

The pancakes are simply made from flour and hot water dough, kneaded for 3 or 4 minutes then cut into 16 pieces. The pieces are individually rolled into discs, then paired together with a layer of sesame oil in between. Rolled to paper thin depth and cooked briefly on both sides until steam causes them to puff up, they're peeled apart forming two extremely thin pancakes. It's just like magic honestly, although they take some practice and a lot of swearing because it's hot, touchy work. Luckily I'd made them before so I knew what we were in for, but this time I just did the rolling and the big guy did the cooking. It sure made the job go a lot easier. 

As for the Moo Shu filling, pork loin's cut into thin slices and marinated for an hour in soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and cornstarch before it's cooked along with assorted mushrooms, green onions, ginger, garlic and a fair amount of napa cabbage. Served in the pancakes with hoisin sauce on the side, it's light, healthy and full of flavor if a tad messy to eat. Delicious fun food for a relaxed Saturday night!

Moo Shu Pork with Mandarin Pancakes

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine or sake

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1 x ¼ inch strips

Combine soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and cornstarch in a medium sized zip bag. Add pork loin and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Combine

1/4 cup dried wood ear mushrooms with 1 cup boiling water in a small bowl. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain water, slice mushrooms thinly and set aside.

Combine in another bowl

10 dried shitake mushrooms

2 cups boiling water

Cover and let stand for 20 minutes to hydrate mushrooms. Drain, discard stems and slice mushroom caps thinly. Combine hydrated shitake mushrooms with the following and set aside.

1/2 cup sliced green onions in 1 inch pieces

3 tablespoons minced garlic (approx 12 cloves)

3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

Combine together in a small bowl and set aside

3 tablespoons rice wine or sake

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Beat together and set aside

2 eggs

Slice and place in separate containers

3 cups napa cabbage stalks (thinly sliced)

4 cups napa cabbage leaves (thinly sliced)

Heat 1-1/2 teaspoons oil in a wok or medium high heat. Add pork and stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove pork from wok and set aside. Add 1-1/2 teaspoons oil to wok, add eggs. Stir fry for 30 seconds or until soft scrambled. Add shitake mushroom mixture and stir fry for 1-1/2 mintues. Add napa cabbage stalks and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add wood ear mushrooms, napa cabbage leaves and 2 Tablespoons rice wine or sake. Stir fry 1 minute. Return pork to the wok, add cornstarch mixture and stir fry for 2 more minutes. Sauce will be quite thin.

 To serve, combine together

½ cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Spread hoisin sauce mixture on uncooked surface of each mandarin pancake and top with 1/2 cup of pork mixture. Roll up.

Mandarin Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup boiling water

Sesame oil

Combine flour and water in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic – 3 to 4 minutes. Dough will be quite hot so be careful! Shape dough into 1-1/2 inch thick log then divide dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 6 inch circle. Brush 8 pancakes with small amount of sesame oil. Top each with one of the remaining pancakes. Using a rolling pin, roll pancakes together.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat and place 1 pancake stack in pan. Cook 1 minute on each side until puffed. Remove from pan and peel pancakes apart. Separate each between layers of plastic wrap and cover until required.

 

 

Comments

[Sarah G]

Love the recipe for the pancakes. Ingenious.

[Nanan]

Excitement!!! Another mini-vacation!!!!!
This looks scrumptious!

[June]

Sarah - I rolled the pancakes a little bigger than the 6 inches called for in the recipe which meant they were even thinner. In this case, thinner is better.

Lea - yeah. We're going for a "wok" on the wild side. Tee,hee.

[Mags]

wok on the wild side...LOL... you nut!

This looks so much tastier than steamed, strained green beans. (Gavin hasn't tried them yet. I'll let you know if he likes them.)