Moo shu pork

I absolutely love asian food, growning up in a small town in Ireland we didn't exactly have a huge selection of Chinese restaurants but over the last few years Chinese food has become very popular and with the love for sweet and sour and crispy duck growning so have the number of chinese restaurants. Moo shu pork is not something you would see on a chinese menu in Ireland and it wasn't until I spent some time in Miami that I discovered moo shu pork. I loved it so much that I had to make a go at cooking it.

Ingredients:-
Moo shu pork:


Marinade:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tbsp corn flour
Everything else:
1lb pork tenderloin
1tbsp garlic ginger paste
3 eggs
1/2 red pepper
2 cups shredded chinese cabbage
1 medium onion sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 carrot cut into match sticks
1 stalk of celery cut into match sticks
1/2 cup bamboo shoots shredded
1/2 cup bean sprouts
3 tbsp hoi sin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
salt and pepper
1/2 cup of ground nut oil.
shredded spring onion and cucumber
Pancakes
275 g plain flour plus extra for dusting
250ml boiled water
pinch of salt
2 tbsp sesame oil

Method
pancakes

1. In a large bowl, add all of the flour and gradually mix in the hot water, constantly mixing until all of the water has been added.
2. Tinker: If the mixture is too dry, add a little bit more water; too dry, then a tiny bit more flour.
3. Tip the dough out onto a dusted work surface and hand knead it for almost 10 minutes. As with any dough, tinker some more if needed.
4. Put the dough back in the bowl to rest for 30 minutes, covered with a damp cloth.
5. Back on to the work surface for another 5 minutes of kneading and tinkering.
6. When you have a smooth, pliable dough, hand-roll into a sausage 45 cm (18") long and 2.5cm(1") thick.
7. Chop into 18 equal pieces and mould them into balls. Take two of the balls. Dip one side of one ball into the sesame oil and put the oiled side on top of the other ball.
8. Mass production! With a rolling pin, roll the 2 pancakes simultaneously into a 15 cm (6") disc.
9. Put the double pancake into a pan on a very gentle heat for a few minutes, really just to dry it out a little.
10. Turn it over and repeat for the other side.
11. Allow to cool, but before it gets cold, peel the two pancakes apart
12. Do this with the remaining pairs of pancakes.

Moo shu pork
1. In a bowl add the marinade ingredients
2. cut the pork into thin strips and add to the marinade for at least 10 minutes.
3. add the ground nut oil to a pan and brown the pork in the pan in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.
4. set aside the pork and whisk the eggs with a little salt and pepper and add to the hot oil in a thin stream this will make a fluffy omlette. turn over and set aside to drain. chop into small pieces
5. empty the oil from the pan keeping 1tbsp to fry the vegetables.
start with the carrots, celery and onion. after about 3 minutes add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a further minute.
6. next add the cabbage, mushroom and pepper fry for another 2 minutes or so.
7. finish the moo shu by adding the beansprouts, bamboo shoots, hoi sin, oyster sauce, pork and eggs. give a good stir to mix everything up and put into a serving bowl
8. steam or microwave the pancakes to warm them, put them on a serving platter with the moo shu pork, spring onions and cucumber
9. tell everyone to dig in and make their own pancakes.
10. Just look at the satisfied faces on your guests as they enjoy the sweet deliciousness that is moo shu pork.