San Choi Bao carries all the flavours and makes you forget that it is healthy!
San Choi Bao was a dish that I looked forward to at a banquet dinner (although to be honest, any wrap presented at a Chinese dinner made me happy, whether it were from Peking Duck, or Five Spice Crisp Lamb, or Sizzling Lemonsole... ok, I'm drooling on my keyboard now!)
San Choi Bao, aka Lettuce Wrap, is usually made with minced pork, mixed with a lot of finely diced veggies in a tasty sauce for the filling, and wrapped in a lettuce leaf. It is the original "protein style" way of eating, as coined by In-N-Out now, and it is so good that you don't realise it's 'healthy'.
To make this even healthier, I swapped out the pork for sea bass today, but you could swap back in the pork, or change up to chicken, or you could go veggie and use some fried tofu. Whatever you choose, keep it minced or diced super small.
This dish is not one for eating stylishly/elegantly, as you will doubtless have sauce or filling drop out whilst eating - but it is oh so worth it!
Ingredients
Serves | 2
For the sauce:
1 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp water
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Shao Xing Wine
2 tbsp water
For the filling:
2 fillets of sea bass - finely diced
1 tsp minced garlic (or 1 clove)
0.5 tsp ginger - minced
3 small shallots - finely diced
1 small carrot - finely diced
75g water chestnuts (canned) - finely diced
6 Shiitake mushrooms (I use dried shiitakes, that I rehydrate in water for 20 minutes) - finely diced
1 tbsp oil (high burning oil is best, e.g. peanut or canola)
For plating:
6 iceberg lettuce leaves
1 tbsp dry roasted peanuts - crushed
1-2 spring onions - finely sliced
Method:
To make the sauce, in a jug, mix 1 tbsp water and the cornflour to form a slurry.
Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, and mix well. Set aside.
Heat a wok over a high heat.
Add the garlic, ginger and shallots and stir fry for a 2 minutes.
Add the remaining veggies and stir fry for a further 5 minutes.
Mix in the fish, and stir fry for a 3 minutes.
Pour in the sauce and mix well. Allow the sauce to thicken for about 2 minutes, and ensure the fish is cooked through.
Pour the mix into a bowl, and serve on the side of the lettuce, spring onion and peanuts.
To eat: add a spoonful (or two) of the mix into a lettuce leaf, and garnish with the spring onion and peanuts. The art is in the folding of the lettuce, lest you have sauce dribbling down your hands - but hey, that is all part of the fun too!
Bon appetit!
Tip: The filling could be made with any protein - try it with chicken, pork, fish or tofu.
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