Moo Shu Shrimp

If you ask any member of this household (except maybe the cat), they would tell you that the menu around here mainly consists of Mexican, Indian, pasta, and soup.  Lots of soup.  What can I say?  It's a one-pot, healthy, delicious meal.

But at least once a year, I make Chinese.  You might think Christmas is about church and presents and trees.  But you would be wrong.  Christmas is all about Chinese food.  It's an ancient Jewish tradition.

This year, I went all out.  Chicken Chow Mein, pineapple fried rice, Kung Pao chicken, and, what turned out to be my favorite, Moo Shu shrimp.  It's obviously not the best option for Jewish Christmas, but I eat bacon at an astounding rate, so a little shrimp never stopped me.

Yesterday happened to be the third day of Chinese New Year, so it seemed an appropriate time to bust out this dish again.  Given that there are fifteen days in the holiday, you have plenty of time to try it out.  It's a fabulous work night dinner, as it takes about 30 minutes to whip together, and you can use tortillas as the pancakes.  The secret is in the sauce.  Hoisin sauce.  Believe it or not, it's mostly sweet potato.  It tastes sweet, almost like plum sauce, and it's absolutely perfect with shrimp.  You can buy it at most grocery stores in the Asian section.

So ring in the Year of the Dragon with a night of shrimp.  The dragon motto is "I reign."  This dish does.

Moo Shu Shrimp
Serves 3

6 small flour tortillas
vegetable oil
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
1 T ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c sliced mushrooms
2 c shredded cabbage
scallions
hoisin sauce

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Wrap the tortillas in foil, and put them in the oven to heat.

Heat a wok or skillet until very hot.  Coat the bottom with vegetable oil.  Add shrimp and stir fry until cooked through, about two minutes.  Set shrimp aside.  Add more oil to the pan if needed, and and the egg.  Season with salt and pepper, and scramble egg until it is just set, about two minutes.  Set aside with the shrimp.

Add more oil to the pan.  Stir fry ginger, garlic, and mushrooms together for four minutes.  Add the cabbage and cook until it has wilted, about another four minutes.  Add the shrimp and egg back into the vegetables, and stir coat with hoisin sauce (about 1 T).  Serve with tortillas and more hoison sauce.