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Moo Shu Chicken with Homemade Pancakes!

Moo Shu Chicken with Homemade Pancakes!

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Yield: 4 Servings

Woks of Life

Ready for a great Moo-Shu chicken recipe that’s higher quality than takeout? This is how we used to make it in our family restaurant—a rapidly disappearing flavorful version of the dish.

Chicken and marinade:

  • 8oz chicken breast, (sliced in thin strips)
  • 1TBS water
  • 1tsp cornstarch
  • 1tsp oil
  • ½tsp sesame oil
  • 1pinch of ground white pepper

For the rest of the dish:

  • 3TBS oil (divided)
  • 2large eggs (beaten)
  • 2TBS hot water
  • 1TBS hoisin sauce (plus extra for spreading on the pancakes)
  • 1TBS oyster sauce
  • 1tsp light soy sauce
  • ½tsp sesame oil
  • 2cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 3cups of napa cabbage (shredded)
  • 5dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked and sliced, about ½ cup)
  • 1TBS dried wood ear mushrooms (soaked and roughly chopped, about ½ cup)
  • ½cup bamboo shoots (soaked and julienned)
  • ¼cup dried lily flowers (soaked and ends removed)
  • 1TBS Shaoxing wine
  • 2scallions (split and sliced into 2-inch pieces)
  • Mandarin pancakes

Mix the sliced chicken and marinade ingredients in a bowl until well-incorporated and set aside for 15 minutes.

Pour 1 TBS oil into a heated frying pan and pour in the beaten eggs to make an omelet. Transfer to a cutting board and cut the egg omelet into thin strips. Set aside. Combine the hot water, 1 TBS hoisin sauce, 1 TBS oyster sauce, 1 tsp light soy sauce, and ½ tsp sesame oil in a bowl. Stir until well-combined and set aside.

Heat another TBS of oil in your wok or large skillet until it’s almost smoking and add the chicken. Lightly sear on all sides until about 80% done and remove from the wok. Set aside.

Add an additional TBS of oil to the wok and turn the heat up to high. Stir in the garlic, followed immediately by the cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and lily flowers. Give everything a good stir for 1 minute. Add the Shaoxing wine and stir-fry for another 20 seconds.

Next, add the sauce mixture, cooked chicken, and egg strips. The pan should be hot enough so that there is little or no residual liquid left at the bottom of the pan. Toss in the scallions and serve with the pancakes and extra hoisin sauce!

Mandarin Pancakes

Yield: 12 7-inch Pancakes

Woks of Life

Ready for a great Moo Shu chicken recipe that’s higher quality than takeout? This is how we used to make it in our family restaurant—a rapidly disappearing flavorful version of the dish.

  • 1½cups flour
  • ⅛tsp salt
  • ⅔cup boiling water
  • 1tsp oil

Prepare mandarin pancakes:

Mix the flour and salt in a heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling hot water into the flour mixture and use chopsticks or a spatula to mix until a dough ball forms. Once it is cool enough to handle, knead the dough for 8 minutes until smooth, adding flour if the dough is too sticky. Cover with plastic and allow the dough to rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a dough ball, then flatten them out into a small disc about 2 inches in diameter. Lightly brush 6 of the discs with oil, ensuring the sides of the discs are also brushed with oil. Layer the remaining 6 discs over the 6 oiled discs so you have 6 pieces, each comprised of 2 discs.

Use a rolling pin to roll the discs into 7-inch circles, flipping the pancakes frequently so both dough discs are rolled into the same size.

Heat a wok or frying pan over medium low heat and place one pancake into the pan. After 30 to 45 seconds, you should see air pockets begin to form between the two pancakes. Flip the pancake; it should be white with just a couple of faint brown patches. Any more than that, and they are overcooked. After another 30 seconds, the air pockets should be large enough to separate the two pancakes. Remove the pancake to a plate and let it cool for another 30 seconds. Now carefully pull apart the two pancakes at the seams. Place finished pancakes onto a plate and cover with a warm kitchen towel. Repeat until all pancakes are done.

The pancakes can be reheated in a steamer for about a minute when ready to serve. They also keep in the freezer for up to 3 weeks if you decide to make a larger batch.

Beef and Napa Cabbage

Beef and Napa Cabbage

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Yield: 4 to 6

Cook! Stacey Cook

A delicious beef and Napa cabbage stir-fry using a simple marinade.

3 slices of ginger

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 stalks of green onion, 2-inch sections, white/green separated.

15 oz napa cabbage, upper half cut off and set aside, lower half cut in half lengthwise and then cut diagonally in 2-inch sections

Marinate:

8 oz beef, tri-tip, sliced ⅛-inch across the grain.

1 tsp soy sauce

¼ tsp dark soy sauce

½ tsp oyster sauce

2 tsp water

1 pinch of sugar

½ tsp baking soda

4 tsp cornstarch, mix evenly, add

2 tsp oil

½ tsp sesame oil, mix

Slurry:

⅓ cup water

1 tsp cornstarch

Cook:

Heat skillet over medium high heat. Add

1 TBS oil, when hot add

¼ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt, immediately add stem part of Napa cabbage, and stir fry for 1 minute, then add leaf part. Stir fry for another 45 seconds and remove it to plate. Add

1 TBS oil, when hot add

ginger slices and let sizzle briefly. Add

marinated beef, spread out to single layer and pan-fry until the bottom is golden brown. Add white part of scallion and let it sizzle in the oil briefly. Flip beef over and add

minced garlic. Stir fry until other side of beef is brown then add

1 tsp rice wine, then stir fry beef until 70% cooked. Add

2 tsp soy sauce

½ tsp dark soy sauce, stir fry until coated evenly. Add

slurry. BTB and stir to thicken.

Return Napa cabbage to pan, add

¼ tsp black pepper and toss to mix.

Serve with rice.

Twice-Cooked Pork 回锅肉

Twice-Cooked Pork 回锅肉

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Yield: 3 to 4 Servings
Martin Yan

This twice-cooked pork recipe first simmers the pork in a fragrant mixture of rice wine, ginger, and green onions to tenderize it and keep it moist, then finishes the dish by stir-frying the sliced, simmered pork with garlic and a chili-laced sauce to give it a final flavorful punch.

For pork:

  • 1lb boneless pork butt or pork belly
  • 3cups water
  • 2TBS Chinese rice wine
  • 3-4pieces ginger
  • 2green onions

Sauce:

  • ⅓cup chicken broth
  • 3TBS oyster-flavored sauce
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 1tsp chili garlic sauce

Stir-fry:

  • 3TBS cooking oil
  • 6dried or fresh red chiles
  • 2garlic cloves
  • ¼-½tsp ground Sichuan peppercorn
  • ½small head of napa cabbage
  • 1tsp cornstarch


Pork 1st cook:

Thinly slice the ginger.

Cut the green onions into 2-inch lengths.

Place the whole pork butt in a pot with the water, rice wine, ginger, and green onions, and then bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

When cool, drain and cut the meat into large slices, about ⅛-inch thick.

Premix sauce:

Combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, sugar, and chili garlic sauce in a small bowl.

Toast Sichuan peppercorns:

Toast ¼- to ½-tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns in a pan until slightly browned.

Stir-fry:

Place a wok or frying pan over high heat until hot.

Add 2 TBS of the oil, swirling to coat the sides.

Mince the garlic and slice the Napa cabbage into 1-inch lengths.

Add the chilies and 1 TBS minced garlic and toasted ¼- to ½-tsp ground Sichuan peppercorn to the wok.

Cook, stirring until fragrant, 10 seconds.

Add the pork slices and the Napa cabbage, stir for about 1 minute.

Add the sauce, cover and cook until the cabbage begins to soften, about 4 minutes.

Slurry:

Dissolve the cornstarch in 1 TBS water.

Thicken:

Remove the wok’s cover, add the slurry and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens.

To lend twice-cooked pork a more traditional taste, toast ¼- to ½-tsp ground Sichuan peppercorn with the chilies and garlic for about 25 to 30 seconds. Toss in some shredded bamboo shoots, too, if you’re looking for a little extra crunch.

Chow Mein

Chow Mein

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New England Style

Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from Tom Lin and David Rosengarten

13-Jun-15: It took quite a search to come up with this recipe. This is chow mein the way I remember it from New England. Colorado and Southern California don’t often offer it this way. Here it almost always has soft noodles cooked into it.  Mein, meaning noodle, is probably a good indication of this being more traditional.  My better version uses hard noodles, a cracker like, stick chow mein noodle from the supermarket.  I think these are the same noodle, but deep fried.  You’re more likely to get strips of fried wonton skins if you order Chow Mein in SoCal restaurants.  Soy sauce is also not included, which makes this a white sauce.

Mise, Mise, Mise, get your mise together! This means me! This happens so fast, that you must get everything prepped and measured before cooking starts.

Chicken & Marinade

  • ½lb boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into pieces about ½″ wide
  • 1pinch salt
  • 2pinches white pepper
  • 2tsp sesame seed oil
  • 1egg white
  • 2TBS corn starch
  • 1TBS cooking oil

Vegetables

  • 1-2TBS cooking oil
  • 1tsp minced garlic
  • 1tsp minced shallot
  • 1tsp Shaoxing cooking wine
  • 2cups celery thinly sliced on the diagonal (about ⅛″ thick)
  • 2cups thinly sliced onions (about ⅛″ thick)
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 2firmly packed cups shredded Napa cabbage (about ½ of cabbage) (pieces about ½″ wide)
  • 1½cups fresh mung bean sprouts

Sauce

  • ¾tsp salt
  • black pepper
  • 1tsp sesame oil
  • 1cup chicken stock

Slurry

  • 1TBS (approximate) cornstarch
  • 2TBS water

Serve

  • 1cup chow mein noodles (crispy room-temperature ones) or fried wonton skin strips


Marinate chicken:
In a bowl, add the chicken, a pinch of salt, a pinch of white pepper, 1 tsp sesame oil, egg white and mix to coat. Add cornstarch and mix. Add 1 TBS of cooking oil and mix.

Slurry:
Mix 1 TBS corn starch with 2 TBS water and set aside.

Stir Fry:
Place a very large wok over high heat, and let it sit for a minute. Add 1 to 2 TBS cooking oil, spilling it around the sides of the wok. Heat until it’s smoking,

Add, garlic and shallot, stir fry 30 seconds.

Toss in the celery and the onions. Sprinkle ½ tsp of the sugar and Shaoxing cooking wine over them and stir well. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then push the celery-onion mixture to the side of the wok, leaving the center empty.

If the wok is dry, add a little more cooking oil. Add the chicken to the center of the wok and stir-fry until the chicken browns slightly and loses its pink color (about 2-3 minutes). Toss with celery and onions, bringing the mass into the center of the wok.

Add the Napa cabbage and bean sprouts to the wok, tossing with the other ingredients already in the wok. Add the remaining ½ tsp of sugar and toss again. Turn heat down to medium-high, and let mixture cook for 5 minutes; the vegetables should start losing their distinctness and merge together.

Add the stock and sesame oil and toss. When the stock is boiling, add most of the slurry to the wok, stirring immediately. If you’d like the chow mein to be a little thicker, add more slurry. Remove chow mein from heat. Serve