Asian Lettuce Cups

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 25

Course: Main Course

Servings:

These Asian Lettuce Cups (San Choy Bow) are the perfect light and flavorful meal that’s fun to eat and easy to make. Loaded with tender mince, fresh veggies, and crunchy cashews, this dish is great for busy weeknights or entertaining. Plus, the whole family can customise their own cups, making it a fun, hands-on meal!

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil - or sesame oil
1 red onion/s -peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 tsp ginger root -peeled and finely grated
1 clove/s garlic -peeled and finely chopped
500 g turkey or chicken mince
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp tamari -or coconut aminos
1 lime/s -juiced
¼ bunch/s Vietnamese or regular mint -leaves picked (or finely chopped for fussy kids) or Thai basil is lovely too
¼ bunch/s fresh coriander leaves -leaves picked (or finely chopped for fussy kids)

Optional

100 g mushrooms -shiitake or regular, sliced

To serve

40 g raw cashew nuts (¼ cup) or peanuts
1 Cos lettuce -washed and leaves separated
1 carrot/s -peeled and grated or julienned
1 red capsicum/s -julienned
1 red chilli/s -seeded and diced (optional)

Instructions

In a wok or large pan, dry roast the cashew nuts over medium heat and set aside.
Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil over a low heat.
Add the onion and ginger and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and mince and stir fry.
Add optional mushrooms, increase the heat and cook, stirring constantly until the mince is cooked (about 5 minutes).
Add the fish sauce, sweet chilli and tamari.
Stir through to coat the mince well, then turn off the heat.
Stir in the lime juice and fresh herbs.
Place the wok or pan on the table to self-serve.
Break the leaves away from your lettuce and arrange on a plate.
Place the grated/ julienne vegetables / chilli/ cashews on the table to self serve.

Serve

To serve simply place the mince / veggies. cashews into the lettuce cup, fold it in and enjoy.

Make ahead

You can make the mince part ahead and re-heat by stir-frying in a wok or pan with a splash of broth or stock. Keep the cashews aside until ready to serve.

Store

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
The mince mixture can be frozen in an airtight container.

Notes

Vegetarian

Substitute the mince with quinoa or firm tofu (crumbled) and the fish sauce with a teaspoon of sea salt.

Pork Lettuce Cups

Replace the turkey or chicken mince for pork mince.

Nut-free

Swap the cashews for toasted sesame or sunflower seeds.

Seafood-free

Swap the fish sauce for a good pinch of sea salt.

Soy-free

Swap the tamari for liquid or coconut aminos.

Onion and garlic-free

Swap them for a 3-4cm pieces of ginger, finely grated.

Coconut-free

Replace the coconut oil with olive oil or butter.

For kids (or adults) who just won’t eat lettuce

Serve the mince mix on rice or quinoa.

Make it go further

I often have a little left over mince from this meal. So I use it to make another meal the next day. These are ways I stretch it:

Mix through some shredded cabbage or lettuce, add more lime juice and use it as a filling for fresh spring rolls (my kids favourite lunch).
Stir through cooked quinoa and make more lettuce cups.
Mix it through salad leaves, more fresh herbs, cabbage and the juice of a lime to make an Asian inspired salad.

Time saving tip

I always prepare all of my ingredients in advance and just throw this together at the last minute as the cooking time is very minimal. I also have a julienne peeler (from a kitchen appliance shop), which I love as it juliennes perfectly and quickly.

If you are after a safe, non-stick wok to cook this in, I can't recommend highly enough this wok from Solidteknics. It is my most used pan and cooks this beautifully.