The other night, Dan grilled 2 GIANT pork chops, and we needed a good recipe for the leftovers.  We consulted one of our most-used cookbooks for week-night cooking, “The Best 30 Minute Recipe,” and found a great one.  I’ve never tried Moo Shoo Pork from a Chinese restaurant, so I wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out.  But the ingredients looked good and we liked that it seemed really easy, so we decided to give it a shot.  Plus the name sounds funny.

First, cut off a piece of the ginger root, peel it, and chop it up into very small pieces.

Keep chopping — you want it “minced.”  Ginger adds a lot of flavor to Asian cooking, but the last thing you want is to bite into a big piece that overpowers all the other ingredients.  At this point, also mince or press a few cloves of garlic, which will cook with the ginger.

Shiitake mushrooms.  “Wash” them by rubbing off any dirt with a damp paper towel, then cut or break off the stems and throw the stems away.   

Slice the shiitake mushroom caps into thin, long pieces, which will cook more quickly than bigger fat pieces. 

I don’t know what this is, but it looks like a tiny brain soaking in soy sauce, no?  Or maybe I’m just still in the Halloween spirit.  (Dan tells me that this is the sauce for the Moo Shoo Pork  — a little chicken stock, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and some cornstarch to make it thicker.   I still think it looks like brains.)

Saute the mushrooms in a few teaspoons of hot vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat for about 4-5 mintes until the mushrooms begin to get soft.

Slice the pork into strips.

Move the mushrooms to the outer edges of your pan and saute the ginger and garlic for about a minute, stirring often.

Then add the green onions.

And the pork.

Then the cabbage.  We used a pre-made package of cole slaw (plain – no dressing!) from the grocery store.  You could chop up your own cabbage if you’re feeling ambitious or chop-y.

Stir everything together and continue to cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. 

Then add the sauce.

Mix it all together so the sauce is evenly distributed and cook for a few more minutes until the entire dish is nice and hot.  Remember that the pork is already fully cooked, so all you need to do for this dish is heat it.  You don’t want to cook this for too long, or the cabbage will begin to wilt.

Last, add the green onion tops sliced along the diagonal.  These will give the dish a fresh taste and add a bit of crunch.

Moo Shoo Pork is traditionally served in Asian crepes.  But in this easy recipe, Cook’s Illustrated says that flour tortillas work just as well, so we followed their advice.  Spoon out the Moo Shoo mixture (“moo shoo” looks funnier every time I type it) onto a warmed tortilla and that’s it!

Fold over the edges and eat it like a taco or a burrito.  I have to say that I was a little skeptical about how the tortilla would work with the Asian flavors  — my eyes see Tex-Mex, but my mouth tastes Chinese food — but it was delicious.  We’ll definitely make these again sometime.