San choi bao

A hot little lettuce and mince meat number

San choi bao is a wondrously easy and tasty dish to serve up quickly. Pair with fluffy rice and this is a perfect weekday dinner solution when the brain is fried and imagination is lacking. 

INGREDIENTS:

500 g pork or chicken mince (although I used combined pork & veal)
vegetable or peanut oil
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 knob finely chopped ginger
4 thinly and diagonally sliced spring onions
small tin water chestnuts
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce plus extra for drizzling
2 teaspoons caster sugar
pinch dried chilli flakes
iceberg lettuce

Serves 2-3

METHOD:

Step 1: In a wok or large frying pan, gently fry the garlic and ginger in a little oil. Once you can smell their lovely combined aroma, add your variety of mince and increase the heat. Fry until just cooked and season a little. Drain the water chestnuts and rinse well, then pat dry and finely dice. Add most of the spring onions (save a little for garnishing) and water chestnuts to the wok and stir well to combine.

Step 2: You can mix the next few ingredients in a small bowl first then add this to the wok, or just add them straight to the wok if you’re a little impatient like me. Cook for a further minute, stirring the mixture until all flavours are combined. Check for seasoning and add chilli or extra soy if you so desire.

Step 3: Prepare about 8 whole lettuce leaves, washing and then drying these carefully. Trim the leaves if necessary so that they form a cup. Spoon a little of the mixture into each cup, drizzle these with hoisin sauce and garnish with spring onions. Yummo!