Moo shu pork Puns

I ordered this meal just to try something different. We were surprised that it was so tasty. It was also very easy to make since there wasn't a whole lot of chopping and slicing. Actually the only cutting was for the scallions. I sliced the lime in half when it was time to add the juice to the pan. Weird making the rice in the microwave, but it turned out fine. This dish is quite delicious.

https://preview.redd.it/v4s0l1a4bvv71.jpg?width=651&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad571e66f380f77ac3455ed1248510d9d75dcc2d

So we wanted to show you how to make Moo Shu Pork, the traditional Beijing way.

Now, before we get into it… I figure a few of you might be familiar with the American takeout version of of the dish. Abroad, you usually see Moo Shu pork eaten alongside Spring Pancakes: take some of the stir-fry, toss in in the pancake, wrap it up, and devour. Usually, you won’t find Moo Shu Pork eaten this way in China, but it’s not a strange idea or anything – especially in the North of China, there’s a bunch of different dishes that’re eaten in this manner.

See, Moo Shu Pork in America’s got a pretty interesting history. Back in the ‘60s, it was served in some of the first Beijing-style restaurants that opened in the United States. Unlike today though where you can waltz into a Chinese supermarket and find mostly anything, back then they had some limitations. A few of the essential ingredients (wood ear mushrooms, dried day lilies) weren’t around, so in their place cabbage and carrots were used. Somewhere along the line they started tossing em in Spring Pancakes, which again, is entirely consistent with Northeast Chinese cuisine.

Testing this out, we strongly felt the original Beijing version was tastier than the takeout version. That said, we also decided to give tossing that traditional sort in a Spring Pancake and… we loved it! More on that in the notes below, but we figured for the sake of completeness that it might be nice to teach you a dish that’s a bit more common to see in a Spring Pancake as well (a stir fry of pork belly, pickled cabbage, and potato noodles).

Video is here if you’d like a visual to follow along.

Ingredients, Beijing-style Moo Shu Pork:

At it’s core, Moo Shu Pork is a stir-fry of pork, egg, mu’er (wood ear mushrooms), and one of these three ingredients: (1) bamboo shoots (2) huanghuacai (dried day lilies) or (3) cucumber.

Originally, Moo Shu Pork was a dish from the Shandong province that used bamboo shoots. It then migrated to Beijing in the 19th century – bamboo shoots were hard to come by in Beijing, so they started using huanghuacai (dried day lilies) in their place.

Nowadays, Moo Shu Pork is also a relatively common homecooked weeknight dish, and for that sort cucumber is usually what you’d see. You can go whatever route you like, but we enjoy the version using huanghuacai.

Nowadays, Moo Shu Pork is also a relatively common homecooked weeknight dish, and for that sort cucumber is u

i can't seem to find a place that makes decent moo shu pork i've been used since I was a child.

you know. the julienned pork, seasoned, tender, with no browning for some reason, and juliened carrots, cabbage, bamboo shoots, chopped scalions, and those scrambed egg, all bathing in that hoisin/oyster sauce/sweet soy goodness.

you slather some extra hoisin sauce and sambal/sriracha if you want heat, and then wrap it in that wrapper straight into the mouth. and ask more more wrappers. (why do they get so stingy with the wrappers?)

and that is one of the most important problems. that paper thin wrapper, which i have an access to (a reasonable replica of it at least)

i can't find a good place near me, and i need to make it on my own. but youtube is not cooperating in that department.

give me what you got. let me look at it and see

Anyone have a recommendation for really good moo shu pork in Long Beach? Preferably east LB.

Looking for a fix Christmas Eve!

So we wanted to show you how to make Moo Shu Pork, the traditional Beijing way.

So this dish has a history of migration. Originally a Shandong dish, it spread to Beijing in the late 19th century where it picked up a couple alterations. From there, it's became a Northern homecooking mainstay, with some shortcuts here or there. And then finally, it made the jump abroad where it was further altered as a pork/cabbage/carrot stir-fry to be eaten primarily with Spring Pancakes.

We knew that it was this last aspect, the chunbing-style of eating, that's made this dish popular outside of China. While we strongly felt the original Beijing version was tastier than the America takeout version... we also decided to give tossing that traditional sort in a Spring Pancake. And? It was pretty excellent. More on that in the notes below, but we figured for the sake of completeness that it might be nice to also teach a dish that’s a bit more common to see in a Spring Pancake as well (a stir fry of pork belly, pickled cabbage, and potato noodles).

Video is here if you’d like a visual to follow along.

Ingredients, Beijing-style Moo Shu Pork:

At it’s core, Moo Shu Pork is a stir-fry of pork, egg, mu’er (wood ear mushrooms), and one of these three ingredients: (1) bamboo shoots (2) huanghuacai (dried day lilies) or (3) cucumber.
Originally, the Shandong version used bamboo shoots. When it migrated to Beijing, bamboo shoots were hard to come by in Beijing, so they started using huanghuacai (dried day lilies) in their place.

Nowadays, Moo Shu Pork is also a relatively common homecooked weeknight dish, and for that sort cucumber is usually what you’d see. You can go whatever route you like, but we enjoy the version using huanghuacai.

1. Pork loin (猪里脊肉/瘦肉), 200g. To be cut into slivers.

2. Basic meat marinade: ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, ½ teaspoon cornstarch (生粉), ½ tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒), ¼ tsp light soy sauce (生抽), and coated with ½ tsp oil after mixing. Quite note that in the northeast, many chefs use only cornstarch and wine in their marinades. The effect is similar – we’re just trying to keep things consistent in our posts.

3. Egg, 3 Medium. The egg is actually what gives the dish it’s name. Moo Shu (Mu xu in modern pinyin) is an alternate way of saying ‘Osmanthus Flower’, so those vibrant yellow scrambled eggs are pretty critical to the dish.

4. Mu’er (木耳) a.k.a. Wood Ear Mushrooms, ½ pack. Just