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 …..
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
San Choy Bow – Chinese Lettuce Wraps
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 made with ground / mince meat and vegetable filling 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 don’t think there are definitive rules for what goes in Lettuce Wraps, but the common ingredients I see at Chinese restaurants are:
pork (chicken and turkey are ideal subs)
water chestnuts
onion
After this, things get a bit blurred. Other common ingredients which I’ve included in my recipe are:
Baby corn
Shiitake or other mushrooms
Carrots
And those that border more towards “Western” Chinese have all sorts of other vegetables in it, like normal corn, capsicum etc.
Make it real with 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 (Woolies, Coles etc).
Lettuce wraps are a fantastic quick and easy meal that also happens to be healthy. In Chinese restaurants, it’s served with crisp Iceberg Lettuce which tends to crack when folded. For a more practical option, use soft lettuce leaves like Butter Lettuce or Bib Lettuce (US).
Enjoy!– Nagi x
More quick and easy Chinese restaurant favourites
Chop Suey (Chicken Stir Fry)
Browse all Chinese restaurant recipes
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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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 (or sub Mirin or dry sherry, 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, updated for housekeeping matters.Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
When Dozer ate a lady beetle… 🤣
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 ❤️
Wow just made it for Mrs popcorn and the little kernel. That was really delicious, even the little kernel couldn’t get enough of it! Simple and tasty! Thanks Nagi!
Another fantastic recipe from Nagi, this was a hit tonight at my table, thank you.
Hi. Did your soy sauce note mean that I could swap out Kecap Manis for the soy sauces as a variation? Same quantity? I’m going to try this tomorrow. Looks delicious. I am yet to find dark and light gluten free soy so it’ll just be regular soy sauce this time but I’ve just found a gf sweet soy which I haven’t used yet. Thanks for the yummy recipes.
Hi great recipe, can I use turkey mince for this?
YES!!
Have you ever added in finely diced Chinese sausage? Vancouver BC which has a huge Chinese population has pretty authentic Chinese restaurants and my recollection has the water chestnuts, pork and Chinese sausage along with dry thin white noodles. Usually served on iceberg lettuce, fill with the white crispy noodles then add the meat mixture with a dollop of a sweetish sauce. Hoisin maybe? Thinned out a bit? Going to try this soon.
Gosh YES! Chinese sausage goes in lots of stuff around here!
made this last night, just love it can not stop eating, did not have water chestnuts so used chopped celery instead at the end loved the crunch
That’s so great to hear Carol! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x
This is my first go at recipes on this blog…and oh my! I am a HUGE FAN! I made these with ground chicken, just as the recipe states. I added the water chestnuts. Served with the Bibb Lettuce leaves as recommended and a little squirt of Sriracha. Perfection. Husband and I are fighting over who gets to take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Thank you a million times over!
Glad you enjoyed this Beth!!! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! N x
Love the San Choy Bow. Never had it with water chestnuts though, how do the chestnuts affect the flavour?
Hi Alex! They don’t really, they don’t actually have much flavour at all, but they add great texture 🙂 Juicy soft crunch!
I found a recipe sheet for this in Coles last week(an MKR recipe). I was googling to see the country it’s from and stumbled on your recipe. so glad i did before making it. You have better ingredients.Only thing i might use from their recipe is thinly sliced pork steak instead of mince 🙂
I hope you love it Cindy!! This is truly a personal favourite. So healthy too! N xx
Fab recipe – so easy to create and v tasty, Thank you for sharing.
Love hearing that Elizabeth! So pleased you enjoyed this 🙂 N x
I just made this, amazing I am so glad I stumbled across your website, All the recipes looks so easy. I have a shopping list ready to go and get all the that is needed for the week of cooking great tasty food
Thankyou so much for sharing your recipes
I use to have a san choy bow recipe (in one of my 245 cookbooks) but couldn’t find it 🙁 so I decided to google a recipe hoping to find one similar and I stumbled across your website….AND OH MY GOD – I’M OBSESSED!!!
Everything I make = amazing. I’ve told everyone at my work, my friends my family!
I’ve gone veggo since I first made this, so looking forward to trying it with the ‘veggie mince’!
PS – This recipe is SO MUCH better than the original one I was looking for!!
Thanks! xx
WHOOT WHOOT WHOOT!!! 🙌🏻
This. Was. Awesome!!!
There were three of us and I set the recipe for 8 (1.5lbs of ground pork)… we ate every last spoonful. This is an absolutely wonderful meal. We look at carbs and gluten-free recipes because we have a T1D and celiac kiddo, and this recipe is absolutely spot-on on both counts while also being fantastically delicious, easy, and enjoyable to prepare.
I used ground pork, and used chicken broth instead of Chinese cooking wine (didn’t have any, but will try next time). We used the onions, carrots, shiitakes, and water chestnuts for veggies. I forgot the peanuts but did use some scallions on top; we also used Bibb (or Boston) lettuce which was perfect… it was just a superb dinner.
My teens said it was the best dinner they’ve had recently!
Nagi, I’ve made both your crispy buffalo wings (amazing) and now San Choy Bow in the last few days… this is now my absolute favorite food blog.
Thank you so much for sharing your unique, healthy, and delicious take on these recipes!!!