Recipe: Chinese Lettuce Leaf Wraps

There’s been a lack of recipes recently. Between building work, the day job and raising a toddler, we’ve gotten a bit lazy with our meals of late. Even I’ve got a bit bored with them. That’s why I’m very pleased to be taking part in a something a little different with some of my favourite bloggers this week. Not only do you get my recipe, I’ve also included links to all of their favourite family friendly recipes. So now I really have no excuse. It’s time to get back in the kitchen starting with this recipe for Chinese lettuce leaf wraps.

If you’re a fan of Chinese food then you may have already tried these under their real name of Yuk Sung. These Chinese lettuce leaf wraps are simple to make, relatively healthy and fun to eat. By using minced pork, it’s actually a fairly wallet friendly meal as well; the ingredients to this cost me less than £5 (although we had a lot of the sauces in the cupboard) and fed two adults for a main meal easily. It’s carb, gluten and dairy free and with a few simple tweaks would definitely be diet friendly. I’ve not tried this with the baby just yet, it’s probably better suited to slightly older children. I remember loving this when I was younger, there’s something fun about trying to cram lettuce wraps into your mouth and not spill a drop! Anyway, enough chatting, here we have it, Chinese lettuce leaf wraps…

Chinese Lettuce Leaf Wraps

You will need:

• 500g lean pork mince
• 1 tbsp garlic puree
• 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 can of water chestnuts
• 3 spring onions
• 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp sugar (or sweetener)
• 1 iceberg lettuce

We added chopped chilli and spring onion to the top to serve but you don’t have to.

Recipe

1. Dice the celery and water chestnut into small chunks, approximately 5mm in size. Slice the spring onions finely.
2. Over a high heat, fry off your garlic puree, garlic and spring onions for about 30 seconds, stirring well.
3. Add the pork mince to the pan. Using a spatular break up any chunks in the mince and cook until browned. Remove the pan from the heat, drain off any excess fat and set the pork mix to one side.
4. Fry the water chestnuts and celery for approximately 2 minutes.
5. In a separate bowl combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar, stir well to dissolve the sugar before pouring it into the frying pan with the water chestnuts and celery and stir.
6. Allow the sauce to heat through and then add the pork mixture to the pan. Keep stirring frequently.
7. Cook the mixture until the pork has gone slightly crispy.
8. Whilst that’s cooking peel your lettuce leaves off the main lettuce and place in a bowl. You want to try and keep the leaves as whole as possible to give you bigger wraps but don’t worry if you get holes, that adds to the fun.
9. Once your filling is cooked, remove from the heat and serve in a bowl alongside the lettuce leaves. Use your leaf as a wrap or a cup and place a spoonful of the pork mix inside, wrap it up and enjoy trying to eat it without spilling it all over the plate!

If you’re looking for more family friendly recipes, why not check out some of these great ideas? You can even read a hilarious guide to making the perfect cheese sandwich for the choosy child in your life!