The Chinese name of the dish phonetically translates to mu xi rou—rou is meat and mu xi is sweet osmanthus, a plant whose delighful edible white and yellow flowers Idiscovered in a restaurant in Hong Kong. There are no osmanthus flowers in this dish but the yellow chunks of egg are said to resemble clusters of osmanthus. Quite a poetic way to describe the dish.
This isn’t the traditional Chinese moo shu pork though which, according to a blogger who grew up in northern China, is really a much, much simpler dish and rather different from moo shu pork served outside China. Call it fusion, call it evolution, I like the moo shu pork that we have become familiar with. From which country this adaptation came from, I have no idea. If you’re interested in what I think about “pure” cuisines, see my full post on the subject.
Is there such a thing as “pure” cuisine?
Ramen, beef pho, banh mi, Thai curry and khao soi are fusion dishes. Colonization, trade and migration gave birth to fusion cuisine long ago before the word “fusion” was coined.
Back to moo shu pork. It begins with marinating thin slices of pork in a mixture of ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, starch and sesame seed oil.
Marinate for how long? If you’re pressed for time, just long enough for you to prep the rest of the ingredients. But if you want to see a marked effect on the texture of the pork, marinate overnight in the fridge.
The actual cooking starts with scrambled eggs seasoned with a bit of soy sauce. The eggs need to be stirred lightly so that it forms into lumps. Break up those lumps into bite-size pieces with a spatula then scoop out the eggs and transfer to a plate. Note that it is important not to overcook the eggs. You want them to be still a bit wet.
Now, the pork. Add more oil to the pan, cook garlic until you can smell it (but don’t allow to brown!) then spread the pork in the spiced oil. Leave to brown the undersides then flip them over. If froth forms, don’t worry. That’s just the heat trying to remove excess liquid from the marinade that the pork has soaked up.
When the pork pieces are all nicely browned, add wood ears or black fungus, cucumber slices, scallions and the scrambled eggs that you had set aside. Stir fry just until everything is heated through.
Then, pour in the sauce. Because there’s starch in it, it appears cloudy but, as the sauce starts to heat up and bubble, the cloudiness will disappear, and the sauce will become thick and clear. Your moo pork is now ready to be served.
Moo shu pork
Ingredients
Pork
- 300 grams pork - I used skinless pork belly, thinly sliced
- 1 one-inch piece ginger - peeled and grated
- light soy sauce
- rice wine
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- sesame seed oil
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablsepoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup pork broth
- 1 tablrspoon cornstarch
Stir fry
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil - divided
- 3 eggs - lightly beaten with one tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 1 cup rehydrated black fungus - or or wood ears, trimmed and cut into thin slices
- 1 cucumber - halved, deseeded and sliced
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
Instructions
- Place the sliced pork in a bowl. Add the grated ginger, a tablespoonful of soy sauce, a drizzle of rice wine, a tablespoonful of starch and a drizzle of sesame seed oil. Mix well. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, make the sauce by mixing together the oyster sauce, sugar, meat broth, a tablespoonful of starch and a tablespoonful of light soy sauce.
- Heat half of the oil in a wok or frying pan. Pour in the eggs. When partially set, stir around to break into rather large lumps. Scoop out and transfer to a plate.
- Pour the rest of the cooking oil into the pan and saute the garlic just until aromatic.
- Spread the marinated pork in a single layer. Do not move them for a minute or so until the undersides are browned. Flip over and brown the opposite side.
- Add the sliced black fungus, cucumber, scallions and eggs to the pork. Stir fry for half a minute.
- Pour in the sauce. Continue stir frying for another minute until the sauce is thick and glossy.
- Serve the moo shu pork at once.
Moo shu shrimp
If you love shrimps, or prefer seafood to meat, try this variant of the classic moo shu pork. With a much shorter cooking time, this is a quick and tasty dish to prepare on busy weeknights.
