Moo Shu Pork

Here are some things that are delicious:

1. Pork
2. Sauteed vegetables
3. Mushrooms
4. Eggs
5. Hoi sin sauce

Conveniently enough, the items on this list can be combined to become something even more than the sum of its parts: Moo Shu Pork.  It's one of my dad's favorite dishes when we go for Chinese food, and for good reason.  When you take that pork mixture and wrap it up in a pancake with plenty of sweet-spicy Hoi Sin sauce...oh man.  Good things happen.  My Moo Shu may never quite stand up to the stuff we got from our favorite Chinese place growing up, but it's a pretty tasty alternative to make at home.  

Here's what you'll need: pork tenderloin, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, green onions, eggs, hoi sin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, sake or rice wine vinegar, and some pancakes.

Your local grocery store may or may not have exactly what you would like - in my case, my pancakes are just flour tortillas, but many stores do sell pancakes specifically meant for moo shu and peking duck in the Asian food section.  It's also perfectly effective to shred cabbage yourself rather than grabbing cole-slaw mix, but I was in a weeknight hurry and the shredded stuff worked just fine.

First, chop the tenderloin into small strips.  Throw it in a bowl or ziploc bag with some soy sauce, sesame oil, a bit of sake or rice wine vinegar, and some corn starch.  Give it a good mixing, and let it sit for at least a half-hour.

While the pork is marinating, you can start in on the other components.  First, heat up a bit of oil and add your lightly-beaten eggs to the pan once it's hot.  Let the eggs set over medium heat, then flip the whole sheet and cook for just another minute or so.  Pull the eggs out of the pan, chop the sheet into small pieces, and set the eggs aside for later.

Add a bit more oil to your pan, then add your minced garlic and chopped green onions.  Saute just for a minute or so - be careful not to overcook - then add the shredded cabbage and bean sprouts.  At this point, it should be clear why I'm using a dutch oven rather than just a skillet: I'm making a whole lot of moo shu, and all that cabbage takes up lots of space.

Throw in a bit of sake or rice wine vinegar, since cabbage loves a touch of acid.  Let the veggies cook over medium heat, stirring often, until they're slightly wilted but still plenty crunchy.  The volume in the pan should reduce by about half.  Pull out the veggies and set them aside for later.

Add a bit more oil to the pan and bring the heat back up to medium-high.  Chop up your mushrooms, and saute them with the pork, marinade and all, until the pork is just barely cooked.  Do this in batches to make sure that the pan isn't too overcrowded.

Once your last batch of pork is done, the bottom of your pan will be covered in deep brown, flavorful porky goodness.  Don't let it go to waste!  Deglaze with some sake and soy sauce, scraping the bottom of the pan to mix in the porky goodness.  This will have the pleasant side effect of smelling divine.  Inhale deeply.

When you've got the pan nicely deglazed, bring back all of the elements that have been sitting and waiting so patiently on the side - the eggs, the veggies, and the pork mixture.  Mix well, and sample to see what flavors need adjusting.  Add more soy, sesame, or salt as you see fit.  Don't forget, this mixture doesn't need to do all of the heavy flavor-lifting - there's delicious hoi sin sauce to come, as well.

When you're ready to assemble, smear the center of a pancake with a generous amount of hoi sin, then spoon on plenty of the filling.  The filling retains a lot of liquid, so be careful, these can get messy fast - it wouldn't hurt to assemble using a slotted spoon.  Fold up your moo shu like a burrito, and you're ready to eat!

After writing this post, so am I.  Good thing we still have plenty of moo shu leftovers in the fridge.

Recipe: Moo Shu Pork

Prep Time: 30 Minutes | Cook Time: 30 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 12-16

Ingredients

• 2-3 pounds Pork Tenderloin
• 1 large bag (14 oz) Cole Slaw mix
• 1 bag (8 oz) shredded Red Cabbage
• 8 oz. Shiitake Mushrooms
• 3 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 bunch Green Onions
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Sesame Oil
• 3 tsp Cornstarch
• 1 cup Sake wine
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 jar Hoi Sin sauce
• Moo Shu pancakes (or tortillas)

Instructions

1. Cut pork into thin strips.  Add to large bowl or ziploc bag with 2-3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, a splash of Sake, and 2 tsp cornstarch.  Mix well and let sit at least 30 minutes.
2. In a large pan or dutch oven over medium heat, cook lightly beaten eggs in a small amount of oil until barely set.  Flip and cook an additional minute.  Remove from pan and slice into small pieces.  Set aside.
3. Saute minced garlic and chopped green onions in a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat for about one minute.  Add cole slaw mix, red cabbage, bean sprouts, and sake. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are slightly wilted but still crispy.  Volume will reduce by about half.  Remove vegetables and set aside.
4. Saute pork and chopped mushrooms in small batches with marinade over medium-high heat until pork is just cooked.
5. After last batch of pork is finished, deglaze pan with sake and soy sauce.
6. Return all ingredients set aside to the pan and mix well.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
7. To assemble, spread a generous amount of hoi sin sauce onto a pancake, then add several spoonfuls of Moo Shu filling.  Roll burrito-style and serve warm.

Pork Chops in Wine Sauce with Mushrooms and Carrots

This meal was born out of uncertainty.  Kristin and I generally try to shop just once a week or so, and so we  need to get to the store with several meals' worth of ingredients on our shopping list.  This time, we were drawing a blank, and so decided to just see what was decent and on sale and improvise a meal from there.  

We'd just eaten a phenomenal quantity of pork in the week before, so were hoping to find some good beef on sale, maybe.  As it ends up, the beef was enormously expensive, and the fish at the fish counter was underwhelming, so we were back to pork.  I picked up some carrots and some pasta to go with it, and decided I'd figure out how to combine them when it came time to actually cook.

I eventually decided that I wanted to make a hearty wine sauce for the pork using the carrots, along with some mushrooms and onion.  My on-the-spot invention turned out pretty tasty, in the end.

Here's what I used: pork chops, fresh mushrooms, sweet onion, carrots, white wine, dijon mustard, lemon juice, tomato sauce, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper.  At first I hemmed and hawed over whether tomato and mustard could get along - it's a combination I also use in baked beans, and - obviously - goes together on hot dogs and hamburgers all the time.  It worked well here, too.

First, generously salt and pepper both sides of the chops.  Cook under the broiler, 4-5 inches away, 7-8 minutes per side (more for thicker chops, less for thinner ones).

While the chops cook, rough-chop the carrots and onion.

Saute the carrots and onion in a fairly deep pan with a bit of oil until the onions are getting translucent and the carrots are quite tender.  This can take a while.

When the vegetables are tender, it's time to transform them into sauce.  Add mushrooms, tomato sauce, plenty of white wine, a dash of lemon juice, and seasonings - I like thyme and basil here.  Simmer over medium heat to combine and cook the mushrooms - about 10 minutes should do the trick.

Somewhere during that ten minutes while your sauce simmers, your pork chops should be finished.  Perfect timing!  Let them rest a few minutes and they'll be ready to serve.

Once the sauce is done simmering, you're ready - that's it!  Serve the pork with a generous helping of sauce and vegetables on top, accompanied by your favorite starch.  I used some buttered, herbed noodles and liked it quite a lot.

Recipe: Pork Chops in Wine Sauce with Mushrooms and Carrots

Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 35 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

• 6-8 inch-thick Pork Chops
• 1/2 lb Baby Carrots
• 1 large Sweet Onion
• 12-16 oz. White or Portabella Mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups White Wine
• 1/3 cup Tomato Sauce
• 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 2 tsp Basil
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions

1. Season chops generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Broil chops 4-5 inches from broiler, approx. 8 minutes per side until cooked through.
3. Roughly chop carrots and onion.  Saute with olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until tender.
4. Add wine, lemon juice, tomato sauce, mushrooms, basil, and thyme to skillet.  Simmer over medium 10 minutes until mushrooms are tender.
5. Serve chops with a generous helping of sauce and vegetables, accompanied by your choice of starch.