This dish is a fun and healthy. Using the lettuce cups as edible bowls is the traditional way to eat this spicy pork dish and frankly I love it. Yes it may get a little messy and sometimes a fork is needed but it is fun and light as it limits how much you put on your plate. It is a great mid week dish as it is super quick to prepare.

Ingredients

• 700g lean pork mince
• 2 Tbsp chilli paste
• 1 Tbsp sambal oelek (you can get this from Kosco)
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 1/4 cup Chinese rice wine
• 2 long red or green chillies, chopped
• handful of coriander, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1/2 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 red onion, sliced

To serve

• Lettuce cups from 1 iceberg lettuce
• Coconut basmati rice
• Coriander
• Sliced spring onion

Method

Place the pork, chilli paste, sambal oelek, oyster sauce, rice wine, fresh chilli’s, coriander, garlic, ginger, lemon zest and sesame oil in a bowl and mix to combine. Place in fridge.

Place cucumber and carrot in a bowl with white vinegar and put in fridge.

Heat a Tbsp rice bran oil in a wok. Add pork mixture and cook until pork is brown. Remove from heat and mix through cucumber, red onion and carrot.

Layer lettuce cups with rice, pork larb, spring onion, coriander. ENJOY!

Serves 4

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s cookbook New Classic’s