Moo Shu Chicken

Moo Shu Chicken… All ready to get wrapped up or served on a bed of rice. This is one colorful Chinese stir fry loaded with bold sweet, savory and umami flavors. Make this Asian restaurant classic right in your kitchen in about 20 minutes.

What’s in this stir fry? Tender thin strips of chicken, colorful shredded veggies like cabbage and carrot, some shiitake mushrooms and delicious omelette strips, all getting drenched in hoisin laden stir fry sauce.

If stir fry is on your mind tonight, wok up this Moo Shu Chicken, you will be coming back to this one again and again...

Stir fries are easy meals, yet they are colorful and nutritious, loaded with veggies and protein. We have some great stir fry dishes on GypsyPlate. Our Mongolian Beef, Hunan Shrimp, Bo Luc Lac, and Thai Cashew Chicken are just a few of them, which are jam packed with flavors.

Most of them are ready in a matter of minutes, if all the chopping is prepped before you heat up your wok.

We were very curious about Moo Shu, as it seems very popular in some of the American-Chinese restaurants in big cities here in the states. After making our version of this Moo Shu Chicken, we can see why it got so popular.

You Will Love this Recipe, Cos…

• It’s a perfect meal when those Asian cravings hit hard, and you need to whip up something quick, like 20 minutes QUICK.
• This stir fry is loaded with vegetables, so perfect to feed veggie power to your kids.
• It’s protein rich with chicken and eggs.
• Moo shu is customizable, as we can see other veggies going great in this stir fry. It’s also very common to swap chicken for pork. In fact, there is a dish called Moo Shu Pork, too.

What is Moo Shu Chicken

Moo Shu is a Chinese stir fry, mostly common in the northern region of China, made with chicken or pork, vegetables and eggs in a sweet and savory sauce. Some versions have cucumbers, wood ear mushrooms or bamboo shoots.

The predominant flavor in the stir fry sauce is the umami bomb of Hoisin sauce, along with a few other Chinese sauce staples.

In most American Chinese restaurants, it is often served wrapped in soft, paper thin Mandarin pancakes, kind like burritos. It is also very commonly served over a bed of steamed white rice, as with other stir fry meals.

Tips for Moo Shu Chicken

1. You can use coleslaw mix instead of the shredded cabbage we used in the recipe. This will save on some chopping time. Go for multi-colored slaw mix for more colors in your stir fry.
2. If you don’t get your hands on shiitake mushrooms, use button, portobello or cremini mushrooms.
3. If you’re thinking to go the wrap route for this stir fry, you can buy paper thin pancakes in Asian grocery stores. Many people use regular flour tortillas, which work great too.

Ingredients for Moo Shu Chicken

• For marinade – Hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic cloves (finely chopped), ginger (finely chopped), black pepper.
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs – Cut into thin strips.
• Veggies – Cabbage (we used half green, half purple), carrot, shiitake mushrooms, scallions ( green part only).
• Large eggs
• Oil

How to Make Moo Shu Chicken

1. Make a marinade: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk it well. Use half of the marinade to marinate the chicken, the rest will be used as a cooking sauce. Marinate the chicken for a few hours in the refrigerator, or while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

2. Make omelette strips: Whisk the eggs in a bowl with a little salt. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and make a large thin omelette. When it’s ready, plate it out and cut it into thin strips.

3. Stir fry chicken: In the same pan, heat 2 Tbsp oil and sauté the chicken strips over high heat. Spread them so they don’t overcrowd the pan, and cook for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate.

4. Stir fry veggies: In the same pan, use a little more oil if necessary and sauté cabbage, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the reserved marinade to the mix and combine well. Cook for another minute or two, until the veggies get a little softer.

5. Finish the stir fry: Stir in the cooked chicken and omelette strips, and toss until combined. Taste, and season with extra salt and pepper (and/or hoisin or soy sauce), as needed. Sprinkle the green parts of the scallions and serve immediately with flour tortillas or rice. You can garnish it with an extra drizzling of warm hoisin sauce, along with sesame seeds.

How to Serve Moo Shu Chicken

You can serve this stir fry in many different ways. Authentic moo shu chicken is served with steamed white rice.

In Chinese-American restaurants in the States, however, it is served in paper-thin Mandarin pancakes. Instead of making home made Mandarin wraps from scratch, here are a few easy options:

1. Moo Shu Wrappers: These pancakes are soft, chewy, and very similar to those used with Peking duck. You can find them in the frozen section of Asian markets, labeled “moo shu wrappers” or “duck wrappers.” These are already cooked and only need reheating.

To wrap, spread a thin layer of hoisin sauce over the pancake. Fill it with moo shu chicken and wrap it like a burrito or taco.

2. Crepes: You can make thin crepes yourself, or buy pre-made crepes in the grocery store.

3. Lettuce Wraps: Going the low carb route? Try moo shu chicken in lettuce wraps.

4. Flour Tortillas: If you can’t find Mandarin pancakes or crepes, flour tortillas works pretty good here. Of course, the texture would be different than Asian pancakes, but they are an excellent substitute.

My personal favorite is on a bed of rice, as I like anything and everything Asian over some freshly made steamed basmati or jasmine rice.

Whichever way you decide to try this umami rich stir fry, always drizzle some extra warmed hoisin sauce (which is the star here) all over, with a generous amount of sesame seeds. And you are all set for some new stir fry flavor… Moo Shu Chicken!!

Moo Shu Chicken, on our Gypsy Plate… enjoy!

Try these other tasty Asian inspired dishes!
Spicy Squid Stir Fry
Ground Turkey Stir Fry
Kung Pao Chicken
Spicy Noodles
Japanese Beef Curry
Teriyaki Chicken
Japchae

Moo Shu Chicken

Yield: 4-6 servings

Moo Shu Chicken is a quick and easy stir fry bursting with flavor, highlighted by hoisin sauce. Serve with rice, or tortillas!

Print

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped
• black pepper to taste

Moo Shu

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into thin strips
• 14oz cabbage (we used half of green and red ), cut into thin strips
• 1 small carrot, cut into julienne
• 8oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly-sliced
• 4 scallions, green part only, cut into strips
• 2 large eggs
• 3-4 Tbsp oil

Serving

• Flour tortillas, rice or lettuce wraps
• Sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Use half of the marinade to marinate the chicken (the rest will be used as a cooking sauce. Marinate the chicken for a few hours in the refrigerator if time allows, or while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
2. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with a little salt. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and make a large thin omelette. When it’s ready, plate it out and cut it into thin strips.
3. In the same pan, heat 2 Tbsp oil and sauté the chicken strips over high heat. Spread them so they don’t overcrowd the pan, and cook for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate.
4. In the same pan, use a little more oil if necessary and sauté cabbage, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the reserved marinade to the mix and combine well. Cook for another minute or two, until the veggies get a little softer.
5. Stir in the cooked chicken and omelette stipes, and toss until combined. Taste, and season with extra salt and pepper (and/or hoisin or soy sauce), as needed. Sprinkle the green parts of the scallions and serve immediately with flour tortillas or rice. You can garnish it with an extra drizzling of warm hoisin sauce, along with sesame seeds.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.