Monday, September 04, 2006

Buddha's 'Mock Peking Duck' or Mu Shu Tofu?

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Buddha's 'Mock Peking Duck' or Mu Shu Tofu? Vote for one and tell me why! I voted for the 'Mock Peking Duck'. I love the crispyness of the yuba. DH likes both but voted for the Mock Peking Duck too. It is like the bad versus the good or the devil versus the angel, the Mock Peking Duck has more fat and is addicting but the Mu Shu Tofu is low fat and good for you. I suppose to eat the Mu Shu Tofu only since I am in Weight Watcher and counting points! :-) Oh well, I am bad!

The idea of making the 'Mock Peking Duck' dish came from reading Bryanna's blog: Buddha's "Roast Duck" with Yuba. I followed her recipe and served it 'Peking' style ( pictured on the left, above) on a fresh thin pancake or crepe( spring roll wrapper that I bought from the Chinese market), topped with thinly sliced scallions, and drizzled with 'Duck Sauce'. Here is how mine came out after it was fried crispy, before it was cut:


I followed Bryanna's duck sauce recipe also but added 2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp. water to thicken it. This sauce was very good.
I found this fresh Spring Rolls wrapper or Mandarin thin crepe in a Chinese market. This was how I started thinking about making the Mu Shu Tofu. Then, the 'mock duck' idea came later on. For those of you who have ordered Mu Shu anything in a Chinese restaurant should know what this crepe looks like. I know some of you may not be able to get it in the areas where you live, especially, if you don't live in a city. However, if your nearby Chinese restaurant serves Mu Shu, you can ask them where to buy it. Most restaurants don't make the thin crepe themselves.
I adapted the Mu Shu Tofu recipe from Bryanna's 'Authentic Chinese Cuisine for the Contemporary Kitchen' cookbook (Mock Peking Duck recipe is in this book too). Bryanna's is not Chinese but her recipes are pretty authentic. I am very impressed and using this cookbook all the time in my kitchen. Mu Shu Tofu recipe is printed on page 126. You can also make Mandarin Pancakes yourself and follow her recipe on page 88 but I haven't tried this myself. I thought I'll save it for later if I ever live in the 'boonies' and can't get the fresh crepes from a nearby Chinese market.
Here is how I made it ( I didn't use the scrambled tofu as listed in the recipe but I used my smoked baked tofu):
Mu Shu Tofu
Adapted from Bryanna's Authentic Chinese Cuisine cookbook
6-8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
5 dried Chinese black mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms
1/2 small cabbage, shredded(about 4 to 5 cups)
1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled, shredded
2 cups slivered smoked baked tofu, recipe in previous post
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp sesame oil
Sauce:
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp brown or yellow bean sauce
1 tbsp dry sherry (I used Aji-Mirin)
1 tbsp mushroom soaking broth
1 tsp unbleached sugar
24 Mandarin Pancakes
Hoisin Sauce (store bought)
In a separate bowls, soak the dried mushrooms in a boiling water for 20 minutes. When they are soft, drain them, reserve some of the soaking water for the sauce above. Discard the stems, cut into sliver.
Heat a large wok or heavy skillet over high heat until it's very hot. Add the sesame oil. When the oil is hot, add the tofu slivers and stir-fry until they are brown. Add slivered mushrooms, cabbage, and carrots. Stir-fry for a few more minutes. Add the sauce ingredients and toss well. Add green onions and mix.
Serve with Mandarin Pancakes. Each diner places a bit of hoisin sauce on the pancake, add the mu shu mixture, rolls it up, and eats it with their hands.

3 comments:

Harmonia said...

WOW! I have never seen anything quite like that...very interesting!

How's the weather over your way? jw

veronica said...

I like the china food
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Giovanni Carlo said...

Looks yummy, thanks for sharing this recipe, I never thought that the ducks in the neighbor are peking ducks he he
chinese restaurant nearby