Mock pork skin - just like mock turtle...

But not as disgusting-sounding ;) Anyway, I had some leftover baozi filling (see my post on baozi to find out what goes in the filling), so I needed a way to use the remainder without reverting to preparing a new batch of dough for the skins. I remembered I had a bag of lumpia (spring roll, not egg roll) wrappers in my freezer. I don't know how this next part happened, but I also remembered that traditional vegetarian Chinese cuisine had some dishes that were supposed to emulate particular meats, such as mock duck, goose, and squab. This time, I decided to create a dish that emulated (somewhat) the skin of a roasted pig. So, here it is - "Mock Pork Skin"!

Prepare the soy reduction first:
1/4 C Shaoxing wine
1 T dark soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1 1/2 T oyster sauce
1 T sugar
1/2 t sesame oil
Cracked white pepper to taste

Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over low heat. Cover and simmer, until the mixture turns into a dark brown glaze. Take off heat and let cool.

Next, take the filling from the baozi recipe and add the following before the initial stir-frying:
1/2" piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic

Stir-fry with a couple tablespoons of peanut oil and cook until heated. Once cooked, add the following:
1/2 lb scallops, chopped into a paste
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for at least 30-45 min., then chopped finely
2 pieces of dried wood ear, soaked in hot water for 30 min., then thinly julienned

Mix well and let cool. Meanwhile separate lumpia/spring roll wrappers (important: NOT egg roll wrappers) and prepare a flour-water paste for the seal. The paste should be thick enough to leave a thin layer on the back of a spoon.


Once the paste and the wrappers have been prepared, put the filling on the lower half of the lumpia wrapper, making sure that you get the thinnest layer possible. Wrap up from the bottom twice, making sure that the filling stays flat. Put flour-water paste on remaining portion of the wrapper. Then, fold the wrapper up to create an extremely flat roll. When all the rolls have been prepared, cut each roll in half. Heat up a frying pan with a couple tablespoons of peanut oil. Shallow-fry pieces until quite brown and crispy on both sides. Drain to get rid of excess oil.

Take each piece and brush a thin layer of the glaze on one side only. Then cut each piece cross-wise about 1/2" width. You should get 4-5 slices out of each piece. Discard ends without filling. Voila - "mock pork skin".


The finished mock roast pork skin. To be frank, it doesn't taste like pork meat, but the wrapper is crispy like roasted skin, and the glaze is reminiscent of the soy sauce base that is rubbed on the pig before roasting.