Easy Mu Shu Pork in the Instant Pot

Easy Instant Pot Mu Shu Pork is a simple meal consisting of pork, cabbage, and eggs seasoned with plummy hoisin sauce and served with a Chinese pancake. Skip the restaurant and control your own ingredients by making this quick dish!

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Do you like Egg Roll in a Bowl? You'll like this variation!

When I learned about Egg Roll in a Bowl--the fast & easy method of using a couple of bags of coleslaw mix in place of chopping AllTheThings--I thought it would be perfect for my Instant Pot on Campus series. This series consists of recipes that use few ingredients with simple preparation, and I spent the summer teaching my son several recipes before sending him off with an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker to start his own Instant Pot on Campus adventures. You can find my other Instant Pot on Campus recipes here.



After I made the Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe I realized how, with a couple of tweaks, I could re-create my favorite Chinese restaurant dish--Mu Shu Pork. The Mu Shu Pork I get in Chinese restaurants has mushrooms in it, but not every eater in my household likes mushrooms. That's the beauty of cooking at home--you can customize your meals to your eaters' tastes.

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The first time I made this recipe the result was pretty watery. The second time I drained it after releasing pressure and before adding soy sauce. If you like crispy cabbage, consider just stirring in the eggs and coleslaw mix after the meat is browned and skipping the Steam cooking step.

Using Seasoned Meat Saves Time and Effort

One of my best time savers in the kitchen is to use sausage in place of plain meat to boost flavor quickly. I've used chorizo in my Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder recipe and kielbasa in my Braised Turnips and Potatoes with Sausage recipe--to give you some examples.

I tried making this using a ground chicken blend seasoned with garlic, ginger, scallions and cilantro and WOW--that's the ticket for me. I'll be making Mu Shu Chicken whenever I can get my mitts on a package of Mighty Spark brand Sweet Thai-style Chicken. This is not a sponsored post--the company is unaware of my existence, but since they are becoming more nationally available I figure I'll suggest it here as an option. Swapping in a package of Thai-seasoned Chicken would skip the step of onions, garlic, and Chinese 5 spice powder with an even better (in my opinion) flavor.

Where do you find mu shu shells?

I find mu shu shells in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores. I've bought them in Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, and Virginia so I suspect they are a standard item to stock. I don't usually live near an Asian grocery store, but since the item is already frozen I pick up several packages when I am near one and store them in my freezer until I'm ready to use.

If your life doesn't put you in the vicinity of an Asian grocery store, ever, consider using tortillas or wraps instead. You could serve this over rice--I freeze leftover sticky rice in single serve patties so that I can easily stretch out a bit of leftovers into a nice lunch. You can even eat this straight out of the pot with a fork if you like--but be sure to add a squirt of hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of most grocery stores) since it goes very nicely.

What can I make with a Chinese Cabbage from my farm share?

If you are lucky enough to have a locally grown head of cabbage (Chinese, Napa, Savoy, or green) this is a terrific recipe to use it in! Simply slice the cabbage in half root to tip, cut out the core, and slice the remainder thinly. You may wish to add some thinly sliced carrot sticks and purple cabbage for color if you've got 'em.

For more recipes with cabbage, please see my Cabbage Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

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Notes:

1. I like to make this recipe with good quality coleslaw mix. The more colorful the mixture and the larger the pieces, the better I feel it turns out. Tiny pieces of sliced and diced cabbage--while great for a coleslaw--turn to mush in this recipe. 
2. If you cannot find mu shu shells, feel free to substitute tortillas or wraps instead.
3. This recipe is even faster and more flavorful using preseasoned ground meat such as Mighty Spark brand Sweet Thai-seasoned Ground Chicken (not sponsored, just bowled over by the flavor).

Instant Pot Mu Shu Pork
By Kirsten Madaus

Easy Instant Pot Mu Shu Pork is a simple meal of pork, cabbage, and eggs seasoned with plummy hoisin sauce and served with a Chinese pancake. Skip the restaurant and control your own ingredients by making this quick meal!

Prep time: 00:05
Cook time: 00:08
Total time: 00:25

Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 to 2 teaspoons cooking oil
1 pound ground pork (see Note for a fast/flavorful chicken option)
1 pound sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 package mu shu shells (see Note above for alternatives)
1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder (optional but adds much flavor)
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 bags coleslaw mix (try different kinds)
2 eggs, beaten
about ¼ cup hoisin sauce

Instructions:

Press the Sauté button and when the display reads HOT add oil to the Pot.

Add meat, break up clumps, and stir occasionally until browned.

If you're using mushrooms add them as the meat is about halfway done.

While the meat is cooking, wrap mu shu shells in parchment paper and foil. Set aside.

Once the meat is browned stir in onion, garlic, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and Chinese 5 spice powder.

Pour chicken broth into the pot then top with cabbage and beaten egg.

Add rack on top of the cabbage, legs pointing down, then place foil packet on rack.

Press Cancel. Close and lock lid. Turn the vent to Sealing.

Press Steam button, use + or - buttons to set time to 0 (zero) minutes.

Once cooking is complete, quickly release pressure.

Remove the foil packet and rack. Stir the cabbage into the pork. Drain.

Taste the mixture and add additional soy sauce if needed.

Serve on a mu shu shell with a drizzle of hoisin sauce.

Leftovers reheat well.