San Choy Bau – Lettuce Wraps usually made with pork or chicken mince, loads of hidden crunchy vegetables in a delicious sauce, wrapped up in fresh lettuce. For this version, I have used the sauce to marinate sliced chicken breast for a lower fat option and added flavour. It also means more prep ahead of time and a quicker dinner on the table!
STEP 1
Mix mirin, soy sauce, oyster sauce & sesame oil.
STEP 2
Slice chicken breast and marinate overnight. (or 30 minutes)
STEP 3
Finely dice all the vegetables and place in bowl until ready to cook.
STEP 4
Cook the chicken well, then add in veggies & stir fry 2 minutes.
San Choy Bau (Lettuce Wraps)
These are such a great prep ahead meal. I will marinate enough chicken and cut up enough veggies for 3 dinners worth and have sitting in the fridge ready. Then all you do is add a couple of spoonfuls of chicken to the wok until cooked through and a couple of spoonfuls of veggies and thats it, dinner is done!
I like using baby cos lettuce, but any lettuce will do. I tend to also offer tortillas for my kids and they wrap with those as well as the lettuce.
If you prep enough chicken for a few days but then don’t end up using it, just put it in the freezer in a sealed container and you have it ready for the following week.
This is also really great for lunches, especially busy Mums who tend to live off a diet of leftover sandwich crusts and bowls of unfinished Weetbix.
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San Choy Bau (Lettuce Wraps)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
San Choy Bau – Lettuce Wraps, made with marinated chicken breast, loads of veggies and wrapped up in fresh lettuce.
Ingredients
- 400g chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon rice bran oil
MARINADE
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
VEGETABLES
- 1 clove garlic
- 1cm piece ginger
- 2 spring onions
- 1 small carrot
- 1 bunch Chinese broccoli, stems only
- 100g water chestnuts
- 100g bambo slices
- 1 red chilli (optional)
TO SERVE
- lettuce leaves
- crushed peanuts
Instructions
Combine the marinade ingredients and pour over chicken, mix to combine and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or ideally overnight.
Finely dice all the vegetables and place into a large bowl until ready to cook.
Heat the rice bran oil in a large work or frypan over high heat. Add the chicken and cook, while stirring, until chicken turns white. Add in all the vegetables and cook for 2-5 minutes, stirring to combine.
Transfer to a serving bowl alongside the lettuce leaves and crushed peanuts. To serve, spoon filling into a lettuce leaf, top with peanuts and enjoy!
Notes
You could also add in extra veggies such as baby corn and mushrooms.
You can also add cooked vermicelli to serve, so you add a little noodles to the lettuce leaf first, then top with filling and peanuts.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dinner
For a vegetarian version you can replace the chicken with jackfruit and make the marinade with 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons mirin, 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. You can buy jackfruit in tins, just slice/shred with a knife and heat up in the wok before adding the vegetables, it doesn’t need to cook just heat up really.
WHERE TO BUY JACKFRUIT?
Jackfruit when used in savoury cooking has the texture of pulled pork, with the flavour almost mushroom like. It is really good at absorbing Asian flavours such as the marinade sauce in this recipe. It’s a really great vegetarian or vegan option to add to your family meals.
