Asian Lettuce Bundles with Hot Mustard Dipping Sauce

 

 

This is a resurrected recipe from 2010, originally called "Wasabi Turkey Bundles."  I recently "rediscovered" this recipe when wanting to use up some ground pork.  While ground turkey certainly works, ground pork seems a little more like an Asian dish and so I have renamed it.  Either meat will work with this recipe, however, so use ground pork or ground turkey as you wish.

The origin of this recipe is indeed from PF Chang's famous appetizer, called Lettuce Wraps, but this is not a copycat of the PF Chang's version, in fact it is quite a bit different.  If you want the PF Chang's version, there are copycat recipes all over the Internet.  This version came from one of my Number One Fan's healthy eating, low-carb magazines, and I am sorry to say that I cannot site the source because the page from which this recipe was xeroxed does not carry the name of the magazine. 

This recipe requires wasabi paste, which can normally be found in the Asian section of larger grocery retailers, or it can be ordered on line.  As I have already posted in my recipe, Sea Bass en Papillote with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes:

We don't see true wasabi in this country. Even wasabi powder is really horseradish. The most popular and easily found wasabi is in a paste form from a Japanese import company.

You will also need a good quality toasted sesame oil for this recipe, and a good, fiery English mustard.  Personally, I like to make that from scratch using Coleman's mustard powder but any jarred variety of Chinese mustard will work as well and is a little less trouble.

The original recipe from this unknown periodical source added finely diced water chestnuts to this dish.  We chose to leave them out, but you can add them if you like them. I would suggest that you saute them separately from the other ingredients as they will take a bit longer to cook, about ten minutes.

Finally, this recipe is unique from most others I have seen in that it does not use iceberg lettuce, like PF Chang's.  Your certainly can, of course, but I prefer the notion of this original recipe that uses the heart of Romaine lettuce.  The heart of Romaine is the light green and white, small leaves close to the core of the lettuce.  Sometime you can buy them already prepped with the tougher, greener outer leaves already removed.  If you don't have Romaine, then Green Leaf lettuce works well, too.  In either of those instances, you want the lettuce leaves to be 3-4 inches long and wide enough for you to spoon on an ample amount of the meat mixture, along with some chopped green onions.

Ingredients

1 lb fresh ground pork or turkey
2 tsp wasabi paste
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp jarred or fresh minced ginger root
4 tbsp light soy sauce (like, low sodium Kikkoman)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
4-6 tbsp finely chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup hot English mustard (like Coleman's)
2 packets Splenda (or substitute 2 tbsp honey)
4 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp peanut oil
12-15 hearts of Romaine or Green Leaf lettuce leaves, 3-4 inches long and trimmed of any of the tough, outer green leaves

The Recipes

First, make the dipping sauce:
Combine half the cilantro, the mustard, Splenda or honey and the toasted sesame oil and mix well.  Set aside for at least a half-hour to give the flavors time to marry before finishing the recipe.

Then make the dish:
Combine the ground pork or turkey, wasabi paste, garlic and ginger in a bowl and mix well.  Add the light soy sauce and mix again.

In a skillet or wok over medium high heat, heat the peanut oil until it is shimmering, then stir-fry the pork or turkey until it is no longer pink, two to three minutes. Add the remaining half of the cilantro, the dark soy sauce and half of the green onions, and stir-fry for another 1-2 minutes.  Allow the liquid to reduce slightly.  Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped peanuts.

Serve the meat mixture along side the remaining chopped green onions, the lettuce leaves and the dipping sauce.  To eat, spoon on the meat and green onions, fold the bundle lengthwise along the main stem of the leaf and then dredge it in the delicious dipping sauce.