hot salad & other stories: moo shu
(Archive from 26, 2022) These last few weeks I’ve been cooking a lot, and it only fuels my desire to learn more and cook more in my free time. Class started this week, too, which means a busier day schedule but also a reminder as to why I’m doing what I’m doing. The classes that I’m taking for my sustainable food systems program are not always related exactly to food… but I always put a spin on papers and projects that draw it back to food. I’m thinking about food all the time anyway, so I prefer to turn the class research papers into things that I can investigate my own food and wine interests for. In my off hours, I’ve been doing some soul-and-memory-searching of sorts into the food of my childhood, and this week’s newsletter is one. This is slightly different than the Moo Shu in my memory, but delicious nonetheless. It’s essential to serve it with small crepes, fresh carrot and cucumber, and pickled vegetables (like mustard greens or onions).
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MOO SHU
2 chicken breasts or 1 small pork tenderloin, sliced into thin pieces
2 tbsp mirin
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn or arrowroot starch
1 or 2 portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
- Marinate the protein with the mirin, a pinch of salt, and a few cracks of pepper. Let sit, covered, in the fridge, for a few hours.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the sauce ingredients: stock, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and starch. Set aside.
- Heat a cast iron or wok on medium high heat. Cook the protein until it’s browned on the outside. Remove from the pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add a splash of oil if the pan looks dry. Add the mushroom, onion, ginger, and garlic. Stir fry until cooked down and golden brown (it should smell really good).
- Push the onion mixture to the side. Crack the 2 eggs into the pan, scramble until cooked.
- Put the chicken/pork back into the pan. Add the sauce. Stir everything together. Cook until the sauce has reduced and everything gets coated. Serve hot.
OTHER STORIES
Shepard’s Salad: That’s what the internet calls it, anyway. In the season of summer produce, I come back to a simple salad of diced cucumber and tomato, dressed in many ways. This week’s iteration had pomegranate molasses, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of sumac, a drizzle of honey, a bit of olive oil, and of course salt and pepper. An excellent accoutrement for grilled chicken.
Jar Salad: School starting also means packed lunched, but I’m not quite the sandwich type. Instead, jar (or quart container) salads are my go-to. Put the dressing in the bottom, and then load in a dense vegetable like shredded carrots, chopped celery, or sliced turnips (they wont soak up the dressing and get weird like lettuce would). Then add your soft veg, like tomatoes, or fun adds like fruit and nuts, and protein. Pack the container full with chopped romaine, kale, baby greens, arugula… and mix it up when it gets to lunchtime.
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I have been focused on other work drawings and haven’t been able to make drawings for this newsletter lately… hoping to get into a rhythm where I can draw more for personal growth and interest soon, too.
