Why Chinese lettuce wraps will never go out of style
Here’s a meal that works for a household full of folks on different schedules. Stir-fry the ginger-and-garlic-flavored mushrooms and ground pork whenever you’ve got a quorum for dinner. The mixture goes into crisp leaves of small-head lettuce and gets a lastminute helping of crunchy scallions; spoon in what the appetite demands.
The rest can be reheated in minutes for subsequent dinners or lunch the next day.
Pork and Mushroom San Choy Bau 4 SERVINGS
Pork is the ground meat of choice here, because we like its fat content for flavour (typically 20 to 25 per cent). We tested this with ground dark-meat turkey and the mixture was a bit drier.
This is the kind of dish that comes together quickly, so that’s why we’re doing all the prep upfront. Serve with steamed rice. Adapted from “Harvest: 180 Recipes Through the Seasons,” by Emilie Guelpa (Hardie Grant, 2017). 1 ½-inch piece ginger root 2 cloves garlic 1 or 2 small red “finger” chiles or bird’s-eye chiles 3 ½ ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms 3 ½ ounces fresh oyster mushrooms 4 scallions 2 tablespoons safflower oil 1 pound lean ground pork (see headnote) 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine Low-sodium soy sauce or dark soy sauce 2 heads gem lettuce, “artisan” small-head lettuce or 1 small head iceberg lettuce
Peel the ginger, then mince it. Crush the garlic cloves. Stem and seed the chiles (to taste), then mince them.
Stem the shiitakes; coarsely chop all the mushrooms or cut them into very thin slices. Cut the white and lightgreen parts of the scallions on the diagonal into thin slices. Heat half the oil in a large skillet or wok over mediumhigh heat. Once the oil shimmers, stir in the ginger, garlic and chiles. Stir-fry for 20 to 30 seconds. Add the remaining oil and the mushrooms. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until they have released their moisture, then discard the garlic. Add the ground pork; stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes, breaking up any large clumps, until it loses its raw look.
Add the Chinese rice wine and season with the soy sauce (to taste); reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. The meat should be cooked through. Meanwhile, separate the lettuce leaves, rinse, pat dry and place on a platter. Transfer the pork mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve right away, with the lettuce leaves.
Nutrition | Per serving (using 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce): 250 calories, 27 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 290 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fibre, 5 g sugar