Lettuce Packages
Submitted by Marky
Lettuce packages, Chinese-style lettuce wraps filled with savory ground pork, smoked clams, and water chestnuts over crispy fried bean thread noodles and walnuts. Scoop into crisp lettuce leaves and eat by hand.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
25 minREADY
45 minHalf the joy of this dish is building your own as you eat. It’s a Chinese take on lettuce wraps, where a savory stir-fried filling gets scooped into crisp lettuce leaves and folded up like little hand-held packages, crunchy, hot, cool, and fresh all at once.
The filling layers ground pork with garlic and green onion, plus smoked clams and water chestnuts for brininess and crunch. Soy, oyster sauce, sherry, and sesame oil season it, while a cornstarch slurry pulls it into a glossy, clingy mixture.
The showstopper texture comes from two fried garnishes: bean thread noodles that puff into a crisp cloud the instant they hit hot oil, and walnuts flash-fried golden. Both add a shattering crunch under the soft, saucy pork.
Pile the filling over the crispy noodles, scatter the walnuts on top, and let everyone wrap their own.
Chef Tips
- Watch the bean thread noodles closely. They puff and crisp in seconds, so keep your tongs ready and don’t let them brown.
- Fry the walnuts only to light gold; they scorch and turn bitter fast.
- Spoon the grease off the cooked pork so the filling stays savory, not oily.
- Keep the lettuce leaves whole, cold, and crisp so they cradle the warm filling.
Variations
- Use ground chicken or turkey in place of pork.
- Swap the smoked clams for dried shrimp, or leave them out for a simpler filling.
- Add minced ginger, or set out hoisin or chili sauce for dipping.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut green onions into pea-sized pieces.
Drain and chop coarsely the smoked clams and water chestnuts.
Detach lettuce leaves from core, wash and dry them gently.
Arrange lettuce leaves around the edge of a large platter.
Heat oil in wok until it is about to smoke.
Tear bean thread noodles apart and cut with scissors into small portions.
Carefully put a portion of the noodles into the hot oil.
As soon as they expand, turn them over and cook the other side briefly.
Drain them and remove to a bowl lined with several layers of paper towels.
Cook the remaining noodles in the same way.
Drain them very well with paper towels and then crunch them and put them into the center of the serving platter, surrounded by the lettuce leaves.
Put the walnuts into a strainer and immerse them into the hot oil.
They will brown very quickly.
Be careful they do not burn. Remove them to a paper towel, drain well and chop into coarse pieces.
Remove all but 2 tablespoon of oil from the wok.
Sauté the minced garlic and chopped green onions until lightly browned.
Add the ground pork and sauté until it loses its pink color and starts to brown.
Use a large spoon to remove as much grease as possible from the pork mixture.
Add the chopped smoked clams, chopped water chestnuts and chopped lettuce to the pork mixture.
Mix well.
Combine the soy sauce, cayenne, oyster sauce, sherry, sugar and sesame oil; stir into the cooking mixture and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly.
Remix the cornstarch and water and add to the middle of the wok.
Stir constantly, blending other ingredients into cornstarch mixture and simmer three more minutes.
Pour the cooked dish on top of the bean thread needles on the serving platter.
Sprinkle the walnut pieces on top and serve at once.
To eat: Place a lettuce leaf on your plate.
Put a spoonful of the pork mixture and noodles in the middle of the leaf.
Fold the leaf up and eat the package like a bared.
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