More Mu Shu

As much as I’ve been trying to eat and cook new dishes every day, some of the dishes are just too much to finish in one day. Sure I could reduce the portion to half, but it gets difficult when I start to reduce the measurements to quarter or eighth. My Mu Shu dishes are definitely the first to fall in this category. Luckily, everyone likes it. So, more mu shu, please. =)

Mu Shu Chicken

20 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, fat trimmed, julienned
20 oz cabbage (about 1/2 head, cored, shredded)
5 dried Shiitake mushroom
20g dried tree mushroom
1 oz dried lily flower
3 oz bean thread noodles
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar
black pepper

Marinate:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 tsp corn starch

Soak the mushrooms, lily flower, and noodles in warm water in separate bowls. The tree mushrooms are best soaked for 2+ hours, Shiitake and lily flower 1 hour, bean thread noodles 30 minutes should be enough.

Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at last 30 minutes.

Mix the soy sauce, cooking wine, corn starch, sugar and pepper. Set aside.

Drain the mushrooms, lily flowers and noodles. Shred the mushrooms. Most lily flowers would still have the ovary, some even the pedical. Remove the pedical/ovary, and try to pull out the filament and style as well. Cut the lily flowers in halves.

In a large pot, boil 4 quarts of water, blanch the bean thread noodles for 30 seconds. Remove, rinse in cold water, drain, then mix with 1 tbsp of oil.

Blanch the lily flowers and tree mushrooms in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove and drain.

Blanch the cabbage in boiling water till tender. Remove and drain.

In a large non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add chicken, stir till cooked. Remove and drain. Wipe the pan clean.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add green onion, garlic, ginger, and Shiitake mushrooms. Stir till the mushrooms are cooked. Add the tree mushrooms and lily flowers, stir for 1 minute. Add the cabbage, stir and mix for 1 minute. Add the bean thread noodles and the sauce, mix and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken, mix.

Serve with hoisin sauce, and Chinese tortillas.

Note: Chinese tortillas are much thinner than flour tortillas. But if you really can’t find any, you can substitute with small flour tortillas or spring roll wrappers.

Pork, beef, and vegetarian versions are just as tasty.

Normally there are also scrambled eggs in mu shu dishes. Due to D’s allergies, I omitted them. Feel free to add 2 scrambled eggs when adding the bean thread noodles and the sauce.