There’s a lot of reason to love lettuce wraps. They’re fragrant and flavorful. They’re satisfying without being filling. They’re inexpensive to make and pretty to serve. And they scratch the itch we all seem to have these days for global street food.
Making them at home is easy. It takes little more than fresh lettuce, ground pork, chicken or tofu, aromatic vegetables and a couple of key seasonings. Adjust the heat level to your preference, and off you go.
Here’s how:
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Pork lettuce wraps
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped yellow onion
3 scallions, trimmed and chopped (white and green parts)
1 pound ground pork (substitute chicken or tofu)
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Dried red chili flakes to taste
Washed and dried Bibb, Romaine or iceberg lettuce leaves
Crushed peanuts and additional chopped scallions for garnish
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Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and scallions and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the pork and garlic, and sauté until the pork is cooked through. Remove the mixture from the heat, drain the fat and place the pork mixture in a bowl.
In a separate small bowl, whisk the fish sauce, water, lime juice and brown sugar until incorporated. Pour over the pork mixture and stir. Add chili flakes to taste. Spoon into the lettuce leaves. Garnish with peanuts and scallions.
Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor and the author of Hungry for Louisiana, An Omnivore’s Journey, a fun history of eight of Louisiana’s most important foods. Reach her at hungryforlouisiana.com.