When I was a kid, we always ordered moo-shu somethin’ when we went to Chinese restaurants in suburban Colorado. I remember loving to use moo-shy wrappers and adding my favorite toppings, which always included *lots* of plum sauce.

When I moved to China, my food expectations vs. reality experience was pretty mind blowing. The food completely threw me, and after my first Chinese restaurant experience I had no idea what to eat. I was afraid of the grocery stores (our first trip included knee high boot clad women yelling at us through a microphone about yogurt and another woman thrusting a glass bowl taped to juice at us). I had no idea what a wet market was, and I sure as heck was not going to step foot in another restaurant without a local to help me in my pathetic state.

Although I have come a long way since those early days, and still laugh at how unprepared I was, to this day I have no idea where to find moo-shu wrappers in Shanghai. No doubt they are somewhere obvious, but luckily for me, tortillas have become readily available in recent years. They can be used just like a traditional wrapper, and although they aren’t as thin, they are still a perfect replacement.

In Shandong cuisine, these wrappers are called popiah and are often used to wrap various foods. In Shanghai a version of this wrapper is used to make a breakfast favorite called jianbing. I’m guessing in old Shanghai, when food carts ruled the streets, the wrappers themselves were more common. However, times are changing, and street food has unfortunately become a victim of this change.

At least I have tortillas.

This dish combines many fresh, delicious, and delicate flavors that are topped with a powerful sauce, and wrapped into perfection. If you don’t have time to bother with the sauce, you can use hoisin sauce instead, which you can find at all local supermarkets.