Moo Shu Pork Bowl (Mu Xu Rou)
Mu xu pork — wood ear, egg, pork and cabbage in a light sauce — served bowl-style when the pancakes are too far away.
The story
Mu xu ("wood ear flower") pork is a northern classic: tender pork shreds, egg clouds, wood ear crunch and cabbage, all in a delicate sauce. Traditionally wrapped in thin pancakes; at home we bowl it over rice and nobody mourns.
Ingredients (6 + pantry staples)
- Pork loin, shredded — 10 oz / 300 g
- Eggs — 3, beaten
- Dried wood ear fungus — 1 oz / 30 g, soaked and shredded
- Green cabbage — 1/4 head, shredded
- Soy sauce — 2 tbsp
- Garlic — 2 cloves, sliced
Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (1 tsp), cornstarch (1.5 tbsp), cooking oil, toasted sesame oil. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.
Steps
- Velvet the pork with soy + cornstarch; rest 10 minutes. Scramble eggs soft; remove.
- Stir-fry pork 3 minutes; garlic and cabbage for 2 minutes.
- Wood ears, pork and a cornstarch-soy-water sauce; 1 minute until glossy.
- Eggs back in, fold gently twice, sesame oil. Over rice.
Swaps
The traditional wrap version: thin pancakes or tortillas + hoisin smear. Carrot shreds add color.
More 30-minute dishes
Chaoshan Daikon & Pork Soup (Chao Shan Qing Tang)
The soup this whole site was built around: a whole chunk of pork and a daikon, half an hour, then celery and salt. That is the recipe.
Steamed Fish with Ginger & Soy (Qing Zheng Yu)
The Cantonese gold standard of "let the fish be fish" — steam 10 minutes, smother in hot oil and soy.
Corn, Carrot & Pork Soup (Yu Mi Hu Luo Bo Tang)
The sweetest soup in the Chinese canon — corn does all the flavor work while you do nothing.