mushroom roujiamo filling & mo from scratch
filling
ingredients
- mushrooms, sliced - 8oz or 225g (we used bellas)
- shallots, sliced x2
- green chile x1 (we used a cubanelle)
- garlic, minced
- ginger, minced
- scallions
- a can of beer (optional, stock or water would be fine)
- soy sauce 3-4 tbsp
spices
- star anise - 1 star
- sugar 2-3 tbsp
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- chili flakes
- white pepper
- msg (important)
directions
cut your chile in half, remove the seeds, and reserve for later. don't worry about making it small yet, you'll be "chopping in" the peppers later. if you need to cook the pepper, add it to the pot when you add the shallots.
over medium-high heat, add your garlic and ginger and cook for 15 seconds. add shallots and continue for another 2-3 minutes until translucent. add mushrooms and stir gently for a few minutes, ensuring the mushrooms have time to cook off some of their moisture. add spices and sugar, allowing them to get acquainted for 15-30 seconds. deglaze with most of a can of beer and add your soy sauce.
lower the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer and reduce. when it's done, you shouldn't have enough liquid to call it runny.
transfer the mixture to the cutting board and remove the anise and any other whole spices you may have used. slice the chile and scallions into manageable sizes and set them on top of the filling. chop them into smaller pieces together with the mixture, ensuring everything is roughly the same size. transfer to a bowl to serve with the mo.
mo bread
ingredients
- all purpose flour - 300g
- sugar - 5g
- active dry yeast - 3g
- oil 2 tbsp
directions
combine the flour, yeast, and sugar together in a mixing bowl and add enough room temp water to make a raggedy dough. add water slowly, as this should become a stiff, tacky dough with even consistency by the time it's mixed together and kneaded. cover to let it proof for 20 minutes.
to prepare the 起酥油 (qǐsūyóu), a kind of shortening, warm the oil in a pot until it begins to shimmer. you don't want this too hot. add it to a bowl with a couple spoonfuls of flour and mix to make a smooth paste.
divide your dough evenly and roll into balls. flatten your ball and roll it out to make it an even thickness. spread the qisuyou in the center and leave enough room along the edges to fold the dough together. if it gets wet, it won't stick. take the edges and pleat them together like you would when making baozi (you may need to look up how to do this). this creates a pocket on the inside. turn the mo over and flatten it, rolling it out gently.
in a dry pan (this means no oil either), toast the mo on low to medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes on either side, or until it begins to brown. you should see the mo rise a little. after allowing the mo to cool a little, cut along the edge until you have enough of a pocket to add the filling.
about this recipe
I tried to do this the first time with a cumin seitan recipe that turned out pretty good, except for the mo. after seeing a video by Dora from Yunnan province on xiaohongshu making her own, I decided to try it again. I don't eat pork, but I had a vision in my mind for how it ought to taste, and I imagined something sweet and earthy, and I executed both parts flawlessly the second time, which is what you're seeing here. I used a stale can of Foster's that I was really unimpressed by and kept in my fridge for four days, but really I promise you that you don't need one of these 750mL cans because holy fuck that's a lot of lousy beer.
while I failed to make the mo when following a different recipe the first time, after getting it this time, it's really not nearly as difficult or scary as it seems. something that's really important is to make sure that it's warm enough wherever your dough is proofing and that it's covered well, either with plastic wrap, foil, a plate, or a lid. it doesn't take very long to make, so I ended up taking it out after 20 minutes, kneading it a little, and covering it for another 10 minutes.
that's because the order of operations I took was intended to save me some time: first I prepped my veggies, then I mixed the dough. I cooked while the dough was proofing and needed a little more time, so I kneaded and covered it again just before I moved everything from the wok to the cutting board. it's better to have to reheat the filling rather than the bread, so I then made the qisuyou, pleated and flattened the dough rounds, and toasted the mo last.
I really like this recipe and I'm trying to find a way to make gluten free mo. I really think the mo is worth making if you have the energy, but if you can't have gluten or don't have energy (or flour), my friend tried making this with arepas instead.