Moo shu pork with moo shu pancakes 木須肉, 木須餅

"Moo shu" is a popular dish in Chinese take-out restaurants. There are many different spellings for "moo shu"; I use the one in Wikipedia. It is actually a very common home dish, and there is really no fixed recipe for cooking it. It goes well with rice or moo shu pancakes. If you don't have the moo shu pancakes, just use pita bread.

Ingredients:

• 4 scallions or garlic leaves (I used garlic leaves from my in-law's garden)
• 4 five spice tofu (brown, hard, pressed tofu)
• Green bean sprouts and/or shredded carrots (optional)
• 2 oz. tenderloin pork
• 2 Tbsp sweet soybean paste, 2 Tbsp soy sauce 

1. Cut the pork in thin slices. Marinate with 1 tsp cooking wine and flour (or corn starch).

2. Cut the tofu in thin slices. 

3. Cut the garlic leaves in 2-in long slices.

4. Heat up two Tbsp oil. Put the stem part (in white) of the garlic leaves in.

5. Then put the pork in. Cook until it's almost done.

6. Add the tofu and seasoning. Mix everything together. If you like spicy food, add 1 tsp hot sauce in.

7. Mix in the leaves part of the garlic (in green). Serve. 

  

The sweet soybean paste is the secret; it does the magic. It really bring out the flavor and makes it smell so good.

Moo shu pancakes (makes about 10): 

• 100 g all-purpose flour
• 80 g boiling water
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil 

1. Add the boiling water to flour. Mix with a fork or a pair of chopsticks. This is to destroy the gluten in the flour.

 

2. Wait until it cools a little bit, knead it into a dough. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 10 pieces. Roll it into a ball with your hands and press flat. Take one piece and dip in oil. Stack it on top of another piece. Roll the two pieces out together into round shape pancakes, about the size of your palm.

4. Heat the pan with low heat. Do not add oil. Cook the pancakes with the dry heat. Until they blow up, turn the pancakes and cook for another few seconds. 

5. Take them out and separate the two pieces apart.