For our second day of Disney Princess Week we revisit and rewatch Mulan, one of Bug-A-Boo's (and my) favorite "Princesses". Technically, Mulan is not a Princess. She was neither born royal or married into it but she is still a bad-ass warrior and therefore a Princess.
MULAN
One of my favorite Disney World memories is meeting Mulan with my BFF. We had a girls weekend in 2008 and decided to attempt to Drink Around the World at EPCOT. We started in Canada and were doing pretty good and feeling really good by the time we got to China. We were so excited to see Mulan because we think she is such an example of Girl Power. We literally chased her down, probably scaring the crap out of her, and then proceeded to tell her how awesome we thought she was. I'm sure she had a big laugh that 2 grown women were acting like crazy people.
Since then, our next interactions with Mulan were a lot more appropriate. There was no yelling and running. Bug-A-Boo loved meeting Mulan and was very excited to tell her she was studying TaeKwonDo.
We were also fortunate enough to visit Mulan's home country of China and we even visited the Great Wall of China.
We are all huge fans of American Chinese food and after visiting China and experiencing authentic Chinese food I began learning how to make some of our favorites. By far, Dumplings are our all time favorite and while it is labor intensive, for a beginner at least, the homemade versions are far superior to the frozen grocery store version.
The Menu is set:
Mu-Shu Pork Roll-Up
Homemade Classic Pork & Chinese Chive Dumplings
White Rice
While not authentic this wrap recipe is delicious and named after Mulan's spirit guide, Mushu.
MU-SHU PORK ROLL-UPS
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces pork tenderloin, cut against the grain in 1/4-inch slices, then cut into strips
2 teaspoons large eggs
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 teaspoons canola oil
2 cups shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 cups packed, shredded green cabbage
½ cup shredded carrots
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
Hoisin sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Stir together the soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, sugar, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the pork, then set it aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt. Warm the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Scramble the eggs until soft-cooked, about 1 minute, then transfer them to a large plate and break them into small pieces. Wipe the pan clean.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon of the canola oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the pork from the bowl, gently squeezing the strips to reserve the excess marinade. Add the pork to the pan in a single layer, let it cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, then stir-fry it until it is caramelized and just cooked through, about 2 minutes more. Transfer it to the plate with the scrambled eggs.
4. Add another 2 teaspoons of the canola oil to the skillet and stir-fry the mushrooms, about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and carrots and stir-fry until all the vegetables are just tender, about 3 minutes. Make a well in the center of the vegetables and add the remaining teaspoon of canola oil. Add roughly half the scallions, the ginger, and the garlic, and stir-fry them for 1 minute, then combine them with the other vegetables.
5. Create a well again in the center of the mixture, add the reserved marinade, and allow it to simmer for 2 minutes. Return the pork and egg to the skillet and toss the mixture until it is heated through, about 2 minutes. Transfer it to a serving bowl.
6. Warm the tortillas under a damp paper towel in the microwave, about 50 seconds. To serve, place each tortilla on a plate, smear it with a teaspoon of hoisin sauce, and add the pork mixture. Sprinkle on some of the remaining scallions, then roll up the tortilla.
1-1/2 lbs Napa cabbage, cored and very finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3-1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 lb fatty (80/20) ground pork
1/4 finely chopped scallions
1/4 chopped garlic chives
1 large egg, beaten
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (1 lb) package round dumpling wrappers
INSTRUCTIONS
In a fine-mesh colander, mix the cabbage, onion, and 2-1/2 tsp salt. Let stand while you get everything else ready, at least 10 minutes. Grab handfuls of the stuff and squeeze as hard as you can to get rid of all the liquid.
2. Transfer the dried cabbage-onion mix to a large bowl and add the pork, scallions, chives, egg, cornstarch, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Use your hands to get everything evenly distributed and well-mixed. It's best to use your hands because you can get everything incorporated into the meat without making the pieces of meat too small.
3. If you have time, cover and refrigerate the filling until nice and cold, up to 2 days. The filling will be easier to spoon into your wrappers when it's chilled.
4. When you're ready to cook, for your prep deck ready to wrap the dumplings. Get your wrappers and a damp towel. You want to keep your wrappers covered with the towel so they won't dry out. You will need a bowl of water, your filling and a sheet pan with parchment paper to set your completed dumplings on.
Set out five wrappers and using a spoon make a small football shape ball of the filling and place in the center of the wrapper. Using the water wet the edges of the wrappers.
Fold in half and fold a pleat in the middle right, press tightly together, sealing the wrapper.
Fold a second pleat on the right side and press together.
Fold the end into a "V" and press tightly, sealing it shut.
Do the exact same thing on the other side.
6. When you are ready to cook use a non-stick frying pan. Add 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan and coat the pan with it. Place the dumplings in a rosette shape in the pan. Add 3 Tablespoons of water to the pan. Put the heat on medium high and cover. This should take about 7 minutes if fresh and 10 minutes if frozen.
I served this with some Jasmine Rice and a Soy-Vinegar sauce. Everything was delicious and I had plenty of dumplings that I was able to freeze for another time. I ran out of round dumpling wrappers but I had some square WonTon wrappers so I used the remaining filling to make small WonTons to freeze that we can put into soup.
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