veggie mu-shu presents

a few weeks ago, i posted a recipe for vietnamese summer rolls, which i made for a fundraising event.  also on the menu were my veggie mu-shu presents.  the filling consists of four simple ingredients that can be found at any asian grocery store: bean curd, napa cabbage, shitake mushrooms and eggs.  the filling is then dressed with a savory sauce and wrapped in a delicate mu-shu wrapper. the "present" part of the dish comes from the little scallion ribbon that finishes the wraps.  now you just have to decide who is deserving of your tasty little presents?

veggie mu-shu presents

serves 6

2 eggs + a dash of salt & pepper

8 leaves of napa cabbage, sliced thinly

2 tbs. olive oil

½ lb. of shitake mushrooms, destemmed and sliced thinly

2 pieces of bean curd, julienned (photo of bean curd below)

1/3 cup of hoisin sauce

1 tbs. rice vinegar

1 tsp. sweet rice wine (mirin)

1 tsp. sesame oil

12-15 mu-shu wrappers (can be found in the frozen section of an asian grocer)

freshly ground pepper

3 scallions, green part sliced thinly lengthwise

the eggs are the first component to prepare for the mu-shu filling.  basically, we’re making an omelet without the filling.  start by whisking the two eggs with a dash of salt and pepper.  heat a 10” non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and pour the eggs into the pan.  when the bottom side of the omelet is browned (about 1 and a half minutes), flip it over and cook the other side for another 30 seconds.  remove from the pan and let cool on a plate or on a cutting board.  once the plain egg omelet has cooled, cut into 2 inch matchsticks, so they’re about the same length as the bean curd.

the next components of the mu-shu are the cabbage and the shitakes, which need to be lightly sautéed.  they can be cooked in the same pan as the egg was cooked in.  reheat the frying pan again over medium-high heat.  drizzle ½ tablespoon of olive into pan and then add the sliced napa cabbage.  cook the cabbage for about a minute and a half.  it’s ready when the cabbage has started to soften but still has a crunch to it.  set the cooked cabbage aside and bring the pan back up to medium-high heat.  add the remaining olive oil with the shitake mushroom.s  cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, allowing the mushrooms to soften. 

once all four filling ingredients are prepared and ready, mix together the hoisin sauce, the rice vinegar, mirin and seasame oil.  pour over the filling mixture and toss together. 

once the filling is ready, prepare the mu-shu wrappers for wrapping.  separate each mu-shu wrapper carefully, as they are incredibly thin and delicate.  place a damp paper towel over the stack of wrappers and heat for 45 seconds in a microwave. 

place a heaping spoonful of filling on a wrapper.

 

fold over the left and right sides. 

then fold over the top and the bottom.

secure the presents by double knotting the scallion ribbon around the wrap.

     

       

Comments

[Joel]

Too neat- I was just thinking about doing some cabbage rolls and tying them up with scallion, but I don't think the weaker variety we seem to have will hold...

What's bean curd like to work with? Is it comparable to tofu? Are they the same thing?

[Kevin]

These sound nice and tasty!

[Hiro]

lovely:)

[jj]

Don't these ever look wonderful - so professional looking. Great job on the pictures, too. Thanks for a terrific share.