Much Ado About Mu Shu

Thanks to everyone who gave their input regarding my Chinese meal! The final menu included:

* Beef Dumplings (Jiaozi)

* Mu Shu Pork with Mandarin Pancakes

After looking at the regions of China, and the foods that are prevalent in those regions, it became clear that my tastes lean most towards the Northern Chinese Cuisine. Maybe some day I will revisit China and try some Cantonese or Schezuan dishes. But Sunday was all about Northern China and two fairly labor intensive recipes. So labor intensive, in fact, that I enlisted Ted's help because I was concerned we would not be dining until 11pm.

I am not a baker, and am not accustomed to working with dough. This worked against me right off the bat, as I attempted to roll out dough for dumpling wrappers. After following the recipe exactly, the dough was sticky and unmanageable. I added more flour to prevent the dough from sticking. And then I added more flour, and more flour... But the more I handled the dough, the stickier it got. The recipe said to divide the dough into 30 pieces and then roll each one out to a three inch circumference. My wrappers would stretch out but as soon as the rolling pin separated from the dough, it would shrink back to it's original ball shape. Ted heard my groaning and cursing and came to the rescue. He took over the wrappers while I prepared the filling.

Sadly, despite Ted's help, my dumplings did not stay in tact during the cooking process. I chose to boil them and then lightly pan fry them in sesame oil. They were not the most attractive dumplings you've ever seen. Most looked like an overstuffed chair that had sprung a leak, the filling spilling out everywhere. But in taste, they rivaled any dim sum I've eaten!

Mu Shu was a dish brand new to my palate. It was actually fun to make, and made me long for my very own wok. I stir fried marinated pork loin with garlic, ginger, Chinese mushrooms, cabbage, scallions, and bean sprouts. In the meantime I cooked an egg, which was sliced and added to the dish at the end. The mu shu sauce was a fragrant combination of chicken stock, soy, sherry, and sesame oil. While I prepared the stir fry, my savior (Ted) rolled out and fried pancakes from the dough I had made earlier. To assemble, we spread a little hoisin sauce on a pancake, scooped the mu shu on top of that, and rolled the whole thing up like a burrito.

They were to die for! Well worth the effort, though next time I will definitely take the shortcut of prepurchasing dumplings and pancakes. China scores a 4.0!