One of my favourite Chinese starters – Lettuce Wraps with pork or chicken, loads of hidden crunchy vegetables in a tasty savoury brown sauce, bundled up in fresh lettuce. Also known as San Choy Bow, it’s arguably the ultimate “just happens to be healthy” food in the whole wide world …..
The Chinese name for Lettuce Wraps is San Choy Bow which is how it’s written in menus at Chinese restaurants here in Sydney, though the spelling varies widely from place to place and I’m yet to find a definitive answer for what the proper spelling is.
I may not know how to spell it, but I do know you’re going to love them!!
HOW TO MAKE LETTUCE WRAPS
Lettuce wraps are a fantastic quick and easy meal that also happens to be healthy. A quick stir fry made with chicken, pork or turkey, some chopped vegetables cooked with a savoury Chinese sauce, spooned into lettuce cups, then wrapped into a roll shape to eat.
For a great Lettuce Wrap, it all comes down to the sauce. It takes more than just a splash of soy sauce to make a truly delish Lettuce Wrap.
Get the sauce right and you can pretty much put anything into the filling. And it is one of those rare recipes that is genuinely great made entirely vegetarian. I would just as happily scoff down a meat free version of this as I would a traditional pork version.
WHAT GOES IN A LETTUCE WRAP FILLING
I’m yet to find a reliable resource that specifies exactly what should go into a Lettuce Wrap filling. I don’t think there are definitive rules, but the common ingredients I see at Chinese restaurants are pork, water chestnuts and onion.
After this, things get a bit blurred. Baby corn, shiitake or other mushrooms and carrots are almost always in the filling. Then sometimes there are bean sprouts. And those that border more towards “Western” Chinese have all sorts of other vegetables in it, like normal corn, capsicum etc.
So I’ve made a version that is akin to what Chinese restaurants serve. It’s basically entirely brown – no pops of colour. While it’s not typically served with peanuts or shallots/scallions on top, I really love the extra something-something this adds. 🙂
STEP IT UP: WATER CHESTNUTS
If you can find them, I really urge you to use Water Chestnuts. It doesn’t have a strong flavour, but the unique thing about Water chestnuts is the texture. Even canned, it is crunchy and a bit juicy and it’s a quintessential part of the Chinese Lettuce Wrap experience. ☺️ Nowadays in Australia, they are found in both the Asian section and canned vegetable section of supermarkets.
As for what lettuce to use for Lettuce Wraps, the softer the better. Crispy lettuce like iceberg and Cos lettuce will crack when folded, causing all the tasty juices to run out while eating them.
So use lettuce with softer leaves. Butter lettuce or Bib Lettuce (in the States) are ideal.
Enjoy!– Nagi x
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San Choy Bow (Chinese Lettuce Wraps)
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 1/4 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 3 tbsp water, separated
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 2)
- 1 tsp white sugar (can omit)
Filling (Note 6)
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 clove large garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
- 300g / 10oz pork mince (ground pork) (Note 3)
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, finely chopped
- 100g/ 3.5oz canned water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped (Note 4)
- 5 baby corn, canned or fresh, finely chopped (Note 4)
- 5 mushrooms, finely chopped(shiitake is best, I used Swiss Brown)
Serving
- 8 leaves large or 16 - 20 small lettuce, preferably soft (Note 5)
- Crushed peanuts
- Finely sliced scallions / shallots
Instructions
- Mix cornflour with 1 tbsp water until lump free. Then add remaining Sauce ingredients and mix.
- Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and ginger, give it a quick stir then add onion.
- Cook for 1 minute then add pork. Cook pork until it turns white.
- Add all the vegetables. Cook for 2 minutes until the carrot is softened and pork is cooked through.
- Add Sauce and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until it thickens and glossy, coating the Filling.
- Transfer Filling into serving bowl. Lay out lettuce leaves, peanuts and scallions on the side.
- To serve, spoon some Filling into a lettuce leaf. Top with peanuts and scallions, bundle it up and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
*
* Originally published February 2017, post writing tidied up and new photos added May 2018.Nutrition
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
San Choy Bow (Chinese Lettuce Cups) recipe video!
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It was a great recipe, really nice, love the sauce!
I just don’t think the nutrition panel is correct, I don’t see how a dish using pork mince can have a serving size of 255g but only contain 253 calories?
Happy 2019 Nagi!! I made this last night for a very happy family. I only had beef mince though, and instead of finely chopping the onion and carrot, I whizzed them together in my food processor and fried them off together. Very lazy, but it worked out ok. The flavours were beautiful – Thank you.
Happy new year Diana!!! I’m so glad it turned out for you!
Delious I used portobello mushroom and replaced the chestnuts with grated turnip worked a treat the family was delighted. Oh and a touch hoisin sauce.replaced the oyster sauce.” Yum yum thanks for the inspiration.
What a great substitution Jenny! So happy you liked it!
Hi Nagi. Is it ok to use dried Shiitake mushrooms, soaked of course, in the san choy bow, or does it need to be fresh mushrooms? Never tried them fresh, so unsure. I cant wait to try this.
PS. Have never used XO sauce, but a friend recommends always add it to just about anything Asian. What are your thoughts?
I love your site. Have tried a few recipes recently with great success. I have yet to leave my feedback, but they are coming. Thankyou so much
Hi Robyn, Yes totally find to use dried shiitake here!
Thanks Nagi. Good to know this.. I just made this tonight as I was able to purchase fresh Shiitake yesterday. Although I adore mushrooms, unless I have gone to the shops with blinkers on, I am sure I have never seen them in the fresh vegi section of my local Coles store on the Sunshine Coast.
Apart from not adding the corn, which i do love “fresh” , as i’d forgotten to purchase at the time in my excitement of obtaining the fresh mushrooms!!, i made everything as per your recipe. Didnt alter a thing and it was divine. Another great recipe Nagi. Thankyoiu so much
Cannot wait to try this recipe! Nagi, your recipes are so informative. I greatly appreciate your notes on what a particular ingredient is, where to find it, and what to substitute, if necessary. You’re the best! 🙂
My mouth is watering and I can’t wait to cook this for my family tonight. I’ve just started Weight Watchers so I’ll be using chicken mince (0 points – yay!) and LOVE that you have added all the nutritional value on your recipes, which helps incredibly! Thank you Nagi
It! Was! A! MASSIVE HIT! My fussy one who barely tolerates minimum greenage had thirds and loved the balance of the crisp (butter) lettuce with the salty sweetness. We will be having this as a regular!!
So pleased to hear that Cat! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi, I made this yesterday. If my family wants the chili con carne once a week, this one they want twice a week. It’s so yuuummmy. Thanks Nagi, you’re making my weekly menu planning easier.
Awesome!!! Glad you enjoyed this Maria! N x ❤️
This recipe is incredible. I improvised a bit – I always use Maggi seasoning because it’s like Soy sauce on steroids. And in order to make it lower carb, I used Chang’s oyster sauce (nearly half the carbs of other brands – 16.5% instead of 30%), and used Splenda instead of sugar. I omitted the flour and water from the sauce as well – this made no discernible difference but makes the recipe even lower in carbs.
If you like using iceberg lettuce (like I do!), cut it in half vertically, pull out the core. Submerge it in a bowl of cold water with ice, make sure the water goes in between the leaves (I run it under the tap first). Leave it for a little while and then you should be able to peel the leaves off a lot easier and they form a nice bowl shape.
That’s great! So pleased you enjoyed this Alastair – N x
Nagi, this receipe is amazing! My husband made this for our dinner last week and I have been requesting extra big batches for lunches as it is super filling but light enough so you don’t go into a lunch time food coma! To my husbands delight I’ve been expanding my chilli wings gradually with this recipe! Thank you so much!
P.s hubby loves your informative notes!
We are trying the char sui tonight and I can’t wait!
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Katie!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x ❤️