Chinese Food: What is Moo Shu?

I see it on the Chinese food menu a lot and it sometimes says: (comes with 5 pancakes).


Chinese food and pancakes? I'm a little confused. Could be good nonetheless. Is it?|||"Moo Shu is a Chinese dish, it can be pork, chicken, vegetables, shrimp or tofu. Other ingredient are often cabbage, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, snow peas and bell peppers, also scrambled eggs. The name of the dish comes from the fact that the thin vegetable strips resemble wood shavings. Such shavings (which resembled shredded wheat) were used as a packing material for shipping fragile objects until approximately the middle of the 20th century." (see first link)





I'm more familiar with the pork variation. The pancakes (or better described as a type of tortilla ) is for putting the vegetables and meat inside. The second link mentions that the dish originated possibly in Shandong.





I lived in Shandong for five and a half years. it is a VERY nice dish. Give it a try. I think you will be pleased.





Blessings and Happy Chinese New Year from China!|||Mu Shu





Mandarin Pancakes:


2 cups all purpose flour


1 cup boiling water


About 3 tablespoons sesame oil


In a mixing bowl put the flour, and gradually stir in the water, mixing to make a thin batter. When cool enough to handle, work the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a dish towel and let rest for 30 minutes.





Place the sesame oil in a small bowl. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 3-inch cutter. With your fingers, daub a small amount of oil on top of 1 round. Place another round on top and press together. Roll the 2 rounds together to form a circle about 6 or 7-inches in diameter. Cover with a damp kitchen cloth until ready to cook, and repeat with the remaining dough.





Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook 1 pancake at a time until barely golden and dry on both sides, turning once, about 1 minute. Remove from the pan, and when cool enough to handle, carefully separate the 2 pancakes. Wrap in foil until ready to use, or refrigerate. (To reheat, place in a steamer insert and steam, covered, for 5 minutes.)|||Basically, it's stir-fried meat (pork or chicken) and veggies with scrambled eggs over thin pancakes. The veggies vary by restaurant but the three things you will always have in standard moo shu in the US are meat, veggies, eggs, and pancakes.



EDIT: Oh, I forgot there is always a sauce on the side for you to pour over it. I never use it so I can't say how it tastes.|||google it dude its osme pork thing