The Moo Shu of Peace

I had to have Moo Shu. Things would not be peaceful within until I was rolling up a delicious mixture of veggies in a thin wrapper – but I’ve never moo shu’d before and it all looked so complicated. Fortunately I found out that with a little organization making a vegetarian Moo Shu is no more difficult than any other stir fry. The important thing is to do some mindful prep and assembly before beginning to cook.

I've made a convenient shopping list for you to print off and use at the end of the recipe!

Ready to roll up and eat!

The Moo Shu of Peace

Nutrition facts for one Moo Shu Wrap

Ingredients to Assemble

Stir Fry Sauce (a delicious basic sauce for any stir fry, just whisk in a small bowl until all the ingredients are well blended)

½ c vegetable stock, low sodium

2 T soy sauce, low sodium

2 T sesame oil

1 T rice wine vinegar

3 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp honey

Filling Groups to Prep Prior to Stir Fry

Mixture One (whisk in a bowl):

3 eggs

1 t soy sauce, low sodium

1 t sesame oil

Mixture Two (place in bowl):

1 red onion, small, sliced thinly

2 T fresh ginger, grated or finely minced

Mixture Three (in separate bowl):

1 ½ cup shitake mushrooms, rinsed, patted dry and sliced into strips

3 t garlic, minced

Mixture Four (in separate bowl):

4 cups cabbage, rinsed, cored, sliced (about half a large head of cabbage)

2 cups snow peas, rinsed and cut lengthwise in half

2 cups carrots, shredded (I just buy a bag)

2-3 green onions, rinsed, outer peel removed, and sliced

Wok Oil (divided by use):

1 ½ t vegetable oil for use with Mixture One (the egg mixture). You can use peanut oil, vegetable, or grape seed, or any oil labeled for use with a wok. You need an oil that has a very high smoking point. Do not ever try to stir fry in olive oil.

1 ½ t vegetable oil for all other Mixtures

For Serving:

1 jar Hoisin sauce (a most excellent sauce indeed and available anywhere that has an Asian food aisle.)

Lettuce leaves – rinse and pat dry with a tea towel or paper towel. Clean enough so that each tortilla will have a piece of lettuce to fit the tortilla.

20 thin flour tortillas - If you live next to one of those terrific Asian stores like Ranch 99, you can pick up some Moo Shu wrappers from the frozen section. But my Thai friend says that thin fresh made tortillas (like we got from the HEB) are just as delicious.

Wok Directions:

Wokking Made Easy:

Before starting, the great thing to learn about wokking is that you need to keep the food moving. Don’t let it sit ever. That means go to the bathroom now. I’ll wait here….... Good, now we can begin. The wokkery takes about 14 minutes. 

Mixture One:

Heat the wok over medium heat. Add the vegetable oil and swirl in the pan to coat. Give the eggs another whisking and add to the pan. Turn the pan so the egg is thinly spread – lift on the sides and tilt the pan so that egg runs from the top to the side. Cook for about 1-2 minutes or til almost set. Flip (don’t worry about being perfect as you will slice it later) and cook for another minute. Remove to a plate. Wipe out the wok with a paper towel.

Slice the eggs into thin strips.

Return the wok to the stove only this time turn the temperature to high. Not medium high, high heat. When you add ingredients, the temperature will drop. If you begin at medium high, the temp will drop so low that the veggies will not cook quickly and get that lovely crisp tender texture. So, let it get hot – almost, but not quite to the point of smoking oil.

Add the oil and swirl. Hold your hand over the wok – close, but do not touch. Remember, you have the thing on high. You just want to make sure the wok is dratted hot.

Add Mixture Two – the onion and ginger. Use two large wooden spoons as if you are continually folding from the outside in all around the wok. Never stop stirring, if you are concerned about this have someone stir while you put ingredients in the wok. It will take 2-3 minutes for the onions to start to soften. Do not over-cook. It does no good and you’ll only end up with a soggy veggie mess instead of crispy Moo Shu.

Add Mixture Three – the mushroom and garlic and continue with that folding method of stirring for another 3-4 minutes. After about a minute of this you can reduce the heat to medium-high. The mushrooms will start to brown a bit.

Add Mixture Four – the cabbage, snow peas, carrots, and green onions. Continue with the folding sort of stir, but take care as at first that wok is very full. The cabbage will reduce shortly. Keep this up for about two minutes.

Finally, add the Sauce! And you thought I had forgotten the sauce; give it another whisk before adding to the wok. Simmer and stir until the sauce starts to thicken and coat the veggies. This won’t take long, maybe two or three minutes.

Stir the egg strips into the hot veggie mixture.

How do I serve this thing?

Put the wok on the table (on a very good hot pad) – no need to dirty up another bowl. Just use the two wok spoons to serve.

Set out the jar of Hoisin sauce with a spoon and make sure there are spreading knives at each place setting.

Set out a plate of rinsed and paper towel dried leaf lettuces.

Set out the tortillas.

What to do:

Spread a good amount of sauce on the tortilla, top with a section of leaf lettuce big enough to mostly cover the tortilla. The lettuce serves as a means of keeping the sauce from running straight through the tortilla creating a very soggy mess.

Use the two wooden spoons and place a nice row of stir fry mixture on the lettuce. Roll like you would a burrito or a soft taco and enjoy.

Moo Shu is very good left over, so don’t fuss that the recipe makes a lot. Just take a tortilla, lettuce, and a container of Moo Shu with a dollop of Hoisin to work, heat, and eat.

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to print JUST the shopping list, click on the print button, then click to delete all the other sections of the recipe. Then print the list!

SHOPPING LIST FOR VEGGIE MOO SHU

3 t garlic (from a jar is fine)
10 large or 20 small lettuce leaves

4 cups cabbage (pre-shredded is fine)

2 cups snow peas

2 cups carrots (pre-shredded in a bag is fine)

2-3 green onions
1 red onion

2 T fresh ginger

1 ½ cup shitake mushrooms

1 tsp honey
3 eggs

20 thin flour tortillas
½ c vegetable stock, low sodium

1 jar Hoisin sauce
2 T plus 1 t soy sauce, low sodium

2 T plus 1 t sesame oil
3 t vegetable or wok oil (peanut oil, vegetable, or grapeseed)

1 T rice wine vinegar

3 tsp cornstarch