I may be a little behind the curve here, but Happy Chinese New Year! The first day of the new year was actually January 28th and it kicked off the year of the rooster. I don’t know a ton about the year of the rooster, but what I do know is that I had a hell of a good time celebrating Chinese New Year in NYC when I was in college. Every year a group of us would head down there for the weekend, kicking things off with dinner at a Korean BBQ place (not Chinese, I know). And then we’d explore in an around China Town the rest of the weekend eating everything in sight.
I don’t know if I ever had moo shu pork during one of those trips. Normally it’s served with Mandarin pancakes which are kind of like a thin flour tortilla to wrap all your goodies in. And by goodies, I mean moo shu pork. I obviously substituted those with lettuce leaves here, but you could use Mexican flour tortillas if you want. I topped things off with a drizzle of hoisin sauce and a little bit of sriracha mixed with plain Greek yogurt which is obviously not Chinese at all! But so yummy.
Moo Shu Pork Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork tenderloin trimmed and sliced
- 12 leaves butter lettuce
- 10 oz shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 2 cups coleslaw mix
- 5 stalks green onions thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 egg whites
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Whisk 2 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, minced garlic, ginger and salt and pepper. Pour over pork in a resealable plastic bag. Marinate in refrigerator for about 1 hr.
Remove the pork from the refrigerator and add to a bowl, reserving the marinade for later. Toss the pork with the arrowroot flour.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the pork and stir fry it for 3-4 minutes until browned. Set the pork aside on a plate. Add marinade to the skillet, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet and set aside.
Add egg whites to the skillet or wok and fry them quickly, then set aside for chopping. Add remaining oil, then stir fry the sliced mushrooms until golden, about 2-3 minutes. Add coleslaw and quickly cook until the coleslaw is slightly softened, about 1-2 minutes.
Return the pork and marinade to the skillet or wok and add 1/2 of the sliced scallions. Stir fry another 2 minutes and remove from heat.
Serve pork and slaw mixture on top of butter lettuce leaves. Top with remaining scallions and hoisin.
