Mu Xu Pork
“Pork stir-fry with wood-ear fungus, scrambled egg, daylily and scallion — eaten rolled in thin Mandarin pancakes.”
Where it comes from
Beijing home cooking with a literary name: 木樨 (mùxī, fragrant osmanthus) for the way the scrambled egg looks scattered through the dish like the small yellow osmanthus flowers Beijing scholars wrote about in autumn. Over time the second character drifted to the simpler 须. The combination of wood-ear, daylily and pork is much older — a northern winter pantry dish, since all three keep dried — and is the same filling logic as a Peking-duck pancake, just with pork instead of duck.
Ingredients
Serves 3
How it's made
6 steps · Show ↓20 min active · 15 min waiting
How it's made
6 steps · Show ↓- 115 min
Soak 15g dried wood-ear fungus and 20g dried daylily flowers in warm water for 15 minutes. Trim hard stems off the wood-ear, knot the daylilies in the middle (helps them hold shape).
- 211 min
Slice 250g pork loin against the grain into matchsticks. Marinate with 1 tsp light soy, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tsp cornstarch, a few drops of sesame oil for 10 minutes.
- 32 min
Beat 3 eggs with a pinch of salt. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok and scramble eggs in soft loose curds, 30 seconds. Tip out onto a plate before they fully set.
Watch outEnsure the oil is not too hot to avoid browning the eggs.
- 43 min
Add another tbsp oil to the wok over high heat. Stir-fry pork 90 seconds until just opaque. Add ginger and scallion whites for 30 seconds.
Watch outDo not overcook the pork; it should remain tender and juicy.
- 53 min
Add wood-ear and daylily, toss 60 seconds. Season with 1 tbsp light soy, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp sugar and a small splash of water. Return egg, toss to combine — the egg should still look in pieces, not pulverised. Off heat, drizzle sesame oil.
Watch outAvoid overcooking the vegetables; they should remain crisp.
- 61 min
Serve with a stack of warm Mandarin pancakes (春饼), a small dish of sweet bean sauce, and slivered raw scallion. Each diner rolls their own.
