One-Pan Moo Shoo Pork (Mu Xu Rou) – Learn how to make this delicious and easy Chinese moo shoo pork with pork tenderloin, wood ear mushrooms, dried lily buds, scrambled eggs that go so well with a bowl of rice or roll into crepes.
One-Pan Moo Shoo Pork (Mu Xu Rou)
I never knew that moo shoo pork is so popular in here in America, until almost 8 years ago when I saw it on the menus of many American Chinese restaurants. I grew up with my mom’s version of moo shoo pork made with wood ear mushrooms (bok nee), dried lily buds (kim chiam). Mom likes to pair the two, kim ciam and bok nee, in her stir-fry with pork. At the hometown where I grew up, many of the cooking has Chinese influence, including my mom’s.
WHY IS THE NAME MOO SHOO?
The scrambled eggs in moo shoo resemble a flower by the name of moo shoo (mu xu)
SPECIAL INGREDIENTS USED IN THIS MOO SHOO PORK RECIPE
DRIED WOOD EAR MUSHROOM (BOK NEE) OR DRIED BLACK FUNGUS
They are also known as ear fungus, ear mushrooms because of their resemblance to the shape of an ear lobe. In Indonesia, we call it jamur kuping. Despite all the different names, they all point to the same thing (photos below, on the right side). They usually sold in dried form and once rehydrated can plump up to be unbelieveably large!
Dried lily buds and wood ear mushrooms
Dried lily buds and wood ear mushrooms after soaked in water
CAN I USE OTHER MUSHROOMS IN THIS MOO SHOO RECIPE?
Traditional moo shoo recipe uses dried wood ear mushroom, but you can certainly use other dried or fresh mushrooms of your choice.
DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MOO SHOO DISHES YOU CAN DO
Meatless
You can opt out on the meat and just use all veggies or use meatless protein like tofu instead
Other meat choices besides pork
Feel free to use chicken or beef
Vegetable choices
Cucumber is traditionally used in Moo Shoo Pork in China. The American Chinese version doesn’t really use dried lily buds or even the wood ear mushrooms. I’ve seen many version with shredded cabbage, bok choy, spinach. I did not use cucumber but I use bamboo shoots, which is really suitable for moo shoo pork too. I like that extra crunch from the bamboo shoots.
For Confinement diet
I suggest doubling the amount of ginger in the recipe and also to add about 1 Tbsp of DOM wine or glutinous rice wine
TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE A REALLY GOOD ONE-PAN MOO SHOO PORK
1. Soak the mushrooms and lily buds
Soak them in warm water for about 30-minutes or until they plump up
2. Marinade the meat ahead of time
You can do this the night before. This will ensure the meat picks up all the flavors
3. Use cornstarch
Cornstarch in the marinade will give you extra tender meat.
4. Really hot wok/skillet
This is important in stir-frying. You need enough heat to get the maximum flavors out of your stir-fry
5. Drizzle some hot water
During stir-frying, drizzle some hot water along the sides of the wok/skillet. This helps to create steam and add a depth of flavor to your overall dish
WHAT TO SERVE ONE-PAN MOO SHOO PORK WITH
This one-pan moo shoo pork will accompany a rice bowl perfectly, just like how they are typically eaten in China. The American Chinese version is usually served with thin pancakes/crepe. I would totally eat them with flour/corn tortilla too.
One-Pan Moo Shoo Pork (Mu Xu Rou)
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 150 gr pork tenderloin cut into thin strips
- ½ cup dried black fungus
- 10-15 dried lily buds
- ½ cup canned bamboo shoot strips optional
- 3 Tbsp oil divided
Aromatics:
- 1 stalk green onion cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 Tbsp chopped ginger double the amount if you are on confinement diet
Marinade:
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp DOM Benedictine wine if you are on confinement diet
Seasonings:
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp sugar
Instructions
Things you can do ahead of time or the day before:
- Soak the wood ear mushrooms and dried lily buds in warm water. The mushrooms will plump up and really big in size. The lily buds will soften and doubled in size too. Cut the mushrooms into strips
- Marinate pork slices with marinade ingredients and set aside for a minimum of 10 minutes or up to overnight
Cooking:
- Preheat a wok/pan until hot and then add 1 Tbsp of oil. Pour the beaten egg into the middle of the wok/pan and then scramble it until it forms large scramble pieces. Dish out to a serving plate
- In the same wok/pan, bring the heat back up and then add another 1 Tbsp of oil. Add the pork slices and stir fry until they turn color and cooked through. Dish out to the same plate you put the scrambled egg pieces earlier
- Wipe the wok/pan clean if necessary, bring it back up to hot. Add another 1 Tbsp of oil. Add aromatics and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, and lily buds. Stir fry for about 1 minutes. Add the seasonings and stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add the eggs and pork slices back. Stir fry to mix everything. Have a taste and adjust seasonings by adding more salt if necessary. Dish out to a serving platter and serve immediately
4 comments
I was missing a few things, but the one thing I do have is dried lillies! There’s not a lot of recipes that use it (in the English-language recipe Google universe, that is) or it’s in super-traditional Chinese recipes that require a mountain of other special ingredients I don’t have. I was actually thinking about just using them as a substitute for bamboo shoots when I found this. Thankfully stir-fries are quite forgiving when substituting ingredients, so I was pretty happy with what came out hahaha.
I think this is a hidden gem of a recipe for utilizing dried vegetables- I’m no prepper, but just this summer I’ve had 2 power-outages! Veggies that reconstitute as beautifully as wood-ear mushrooms ought to be in everyone’s pantry, and lily buds have a great snappy texture, kind of like string beans!
I agree that not many recipes use dried lilies. I usually just include them in stir-fries because that’s the kind of stir fry I grew up with. My mom like to use the combo of wood ear mushrooms and dried lilies together in her stir fries. I’m glad you get to use up the dried lilies 🙂
This dish my daughter said it had flavor. Thank you
I’m glad she liked it 🙂