Lettuce cups with fresh iceberg lettuce, hoisin spice minced lamb, freshly pickled onions and finished with sesame seeds. I think the first time I tried lettuce cups were back in college at Mamagoto. My juvenile tastebuds did not quite understand the idea of these slightly healthy rolls. But give it a few years and I was all about the idea of fresh leaves as wraps.
Lettuce cups or wraps are fairly simple to make. Your choice of fresh lettuce, and a flavour bomb of filling. This is made with lamb mince but you can easily replace it with minced soy or even tofu and paneer.
Check out some more Asian favourites –
Dumplings made from scratch
Ginger fried rice and Kung pao veggies
Crack noodles under 30 minutes
Rice Pad Thai Noodles
Ingredients for Lettuce Cups, makes 6-8 cups
- Minced lamb – 250 g
- Carrots, chopped – 1/2 cup
- Green capsicum, chopped – 1/2 cup
- Onion – 1, medium-sized
- Hoisin sauce- 3 tbsp
- Sticky soy sauce – 1 tbsp (You can also use normal dark soy sauce)
- Red chili powder – 1/2 tsp
- Salt and pepper – to taste
- Oil – 1 tsp
- Iceberg lettuce – 1 medium-sized head
- Apple cider vinegar – 1 tsp
- Fresh coriander leaves – to garnish
- Sesame seeds – to garnish
Method
- Start by peeling off the leaves of the lettuce and washing them thoroughly. Pat them dry and set aside to dry off completely.
- Dividing the onion, chop one half to be used in the mince, and slice the other half.
- Add the sliced onions to a bowl of water with the apple cider vinegar. Set aside to form a fresh pickle while you work on the filling. Drain before using it.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, cook till transparent.
- Add the minced lamb and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped carrots and capsicum to the pan and mix well. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes.
- The lamb should have turned brownish by now. Season with salt, pepper, and chili powder, mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in the sauces, add about 1/4 cup water and cook until the mixture just comes together.
Building the lettuce cups
- Layer two leaves of lettuce, one on top of the other to form a stable cup.
- Scoop a tablespoon of the lamb filling into the cup.
- Add some of the pickled sliced onions, coriander leaves and sprinkle sesame seeds.
Chomp away!
Check out the easy video below –
Lettuce wraps with hoisin minced lamb
Ingredients
- 250 g Minced Lamb
- ½ cup Carrots chopped
- ½ cup Capsicum chopped
- 1 Onion medium-sized
- 3 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sticky soy sauce
- ½ tsp Red chili powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 head Iceberg Lettuce medium-sized
- 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- Fresh coriander leaves to garnish
- Sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
- Start by peeling off the leaves of the lettuce and washing them thoroughly. Pat them dry and set aside to dry off completely.
- Dividing the onion, chop one half to be used in the mince, and slice the other half.
- Add the sliced onions to a bowl of water with the apple cider vinegar. Set aside to form a fresh pickle while you work on the filling. Drain before using it.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, cook till transparent.
- Add the minced lamb and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chopped carrots and capsicum to the pan and mix well. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes.
- The lamb should have turned brownish by now. Season with salt, pepper, and chili powder, mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in the sauces, add about 1/4 cup water and cook until the mixture just comes together.
Building the lettuce cups
- Layer two leaves of lettuce, one on top of the other to form a stable cup.
- Scoop a tablespoon of the lamb filling into the cup.
- Add some of the pickled sliced onions, coriander leaves, and sprinkle sesame seeds.
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