Flavour explosion! It doesn’t get any better than these mouthwatering Vietnamese-inspired Asian lettuce wraps with chewy crispy ground pork!
Not just an ordinary lettuce wrap!
Throughout my life, I’ve had plenty of lettuce wraps. You name it! From San Boy Chow to Thai duck lettuce wraps. There’s no argument about how delicious those wraps are, but these Vietnamese-inspired Asian Lettuce Wraps are my absolute favourite!
I might be a little biased because I’m obsessed with the Southeast Asian flavours in these wraps. The satisfaction from the abundance of flavours, textures, and freshness is unparalleled. These wraps strike a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and salty flavours. You could also add spicy to the mix, but I made mine family friendly by using mild chillies.
We have caramelised crispy pork mince stir-fried with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, chili, brown sugar, soy and fish sauce. Next, we introduce a burst of tang and freshness to the pork by adding fresh lime juice, cherry tomatoes, coriander, mint, lime, and peanuts.
Just writing that above paragraph made me salivate! It’s 1.30am right now and I’m dreaming of these Lettuce Wraps and craving for them. It’s always incredibly busy in December, so sleeping for 8 hours isn’t an option! There goes my much needed beauty sleep. I might as well accept I may look like E.T. (the Extra-Terrestrial) on Christmas day. I suppose he’s cute, at least 😁
Speaking of Christmas, why not make these Asian Lettuce Wraps for your appetisers? These Asian Lettuce Wraps will get your guests’ tastebuds dancing with excitement. They also look captivating and STUNNING! No, seriously, these lettuce wraps are supermodels of the food world. I couldn’t stop photographing these wraps because they were so aesthetically pleasing!
Asian Lettuce Wraps
What meat should I use in lettuce wraps?
I used pork mince (ground pork). Alternatively, you can substitute minced lamb, beef, chicken, or turkey in equal proportions.
How to make Asian Lettuce Wraps vegan?
For the vegan version, swap the meat with crumbled firmed tofu. You can crumble your own tofu by buying a block of firm tofu. Remove as much water as possible from the tofu to achieve crispiness. Roughly chop the tofu into cubes, then use a food processor to pulse it until it has the texture of large bread crumbs. Swap the fish sauce with vegan-friendly fish sauce.
What type of lettuce is best for wraps?
I used baby Cos lettuce hearts for their firm texture, making them perfect for picking up the filling. Iceberg lettuce or any mild-tasting crisp, firm lettuce also works well as wraps.
How to serve Asian Lettuce Wraps?
To serve the Asian Lettuce Wraps, let your guests serve themselves by placing the pork stir-fry in a bowl with a serving spoon. Arrange the lettuce beside the bowl and add small bowls of sliced chillies, chopped peanuts, and lime wedges. For optimal taste, serve this dish warm or at room temperature.
More tasty Southeast Asian recipes to try:
Ingredients for Asian Lettuce Wraps
Pork mince (ground pork) – It’s best to use non-lean pork. If you prefer lean pork, add an extra tablespoon of oil to avoid dryness. Minced beef, lamb, chicken, or turkey can be used as substitutes for pork in equal amounts. Vegetarians or vegans can substitute meat with crumbled firm tofu, refer to the top of this post for more information on how to do this.
Lemongrass. Trim 2cm / 0.8in from the root of the lemongrass and leave approximately 10 to 15cm of the stalk. Discard the remaining leafy part of the stem or save them for making stock. Remove 2 to 3 layers to uncover the soft, pale part of the stalk. Slice thin rings from the base until the stalk becomes too tough to cut, then dispose of the rest.
Cos (Romaine) Lettuce. I used baby Cos lettuce hearts for their firm texture, making them perfect for picking up the filling. You can use iceberg lettuce or any mild-tasting crisp and firm variety for wraps.
Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce are both fine, but dark or sweet soy sauces won’t work since they’re not interchangeable. Light soy sauce is a dark, savoury condiment commonly used in Asian cuisine. It has a rich, umami flavour and is often used as a seasoning or dipping sauce.
Fish sauce – My favourite brand is Thai ‘Squid’ fish sauce, but any brand of fish sauce would work. Fish sauce is pungent with an intense fish smell, but it adds a unique salty savoury flavour to dishes. Supermarkets usually stock their fish sauce in the International section or purchase a bottle at an Asian grocer.
Large red chillies – These Asian Lettuce cups have a mild flavor because of the large red chillies. If serving for children, you may wish to omit chillies completely. For added heat, swap for small red chilies like Thai or Bird’s-eye chillies.
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How to make Asian Lettuce Wraps
Step-by-step guide with photos
Place the garlic, ginger, lemongrass in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass into a paste.
Heat oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat, then add in the pork. Occasionally stir the pork and cook until most of it becomes crispy, this could take around 5 minutes.
Push the pork to one side of the pan, and if it’s too dry, add another tablespoon of oil to the other side. Add in the chopped garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it becomes fragrant, making sure not to let it burn.
Add in the chillies, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar, then stir-fry until the sugar dissolves. The pork should look darker and caramelised, this may take about 2 to 3 minutes. Have a taste and add salt or pepper to your liking if needed.
Remove the pan from the heat, then add in the lime juice, tomatoes, onion, coriander and mint. Give it a good toss to combine. Have a taste and add more lime juice to your liking if needed.
To serve the Asian Lettuce Wraps, let your guests serve themselves by placing the pork stir-fry in a bowl with a serving spoon. Arrange the lettuce beside the bowl and add small bowls of sliced chillies, chopped peanuts, and lime wedges. Best served warm or at room temperature, but doesn’t reheat well.
Cooking measurements
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’
Cheers – Cat T
Asian Lettuce Wraps (Vietnamese-style with crispy pork)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 lemongrass (soft parts only, thinly sliced) (NOTE 1)
- 25gm / 0.9oz ginger (peeled, thinly sliced)
- 1 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable / canola oil)
- 500gm / 1.1lb pork mince (ground pork) (NOTE 2)
- 1 large red chilli (thinly sliced) (NOTE 3)
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (NOTE 4)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (NOTE 5)
- 3 tbsp (60gm / 2oz) firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 150gm / 5oz cherry tomatoes (halved)
- ½ small red onion (thin wedges)
- ½ cup (15gm / 0.5oz) finely chopped coriander / cilantro
- ⅓ cup (10gm / 0.4oz) finely chopped mint leaves
TO SERVE
- 2 baby cos lettuce hearts (washed and pulled apart) (NOTE 6)
- ¼ cup chopped unsalted peanuts
- lemon wedges
- chilli, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Place the garlic, ginger, lemongrass in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass into a paste.
- Heat oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat, then add in the pork. Occasionally stir the pork and cook until most of it becomes crispy, this could take around 5 minutes.
- Push the pork to one side of the pan, and if it's too dry, add another tablespoon of oil to the other side. Add in the chopped garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it becomes fragrant, making sure not to let it burn.
- Add in the chillies, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar, then stir-fry until the sugar dissolves. The pork should look darker and caramelised, this may take about 2 to 3 minutes. Have a taste and add salt or pepper to your liking if needed.
- Remove the pan from the heat, then add in the lime juice, tomatoes, onion, coriander and mint. Give it a good toss to combine. Have a taste and add more lime juice to your liking if needed.
- To serve the Asian Lettuce Wraps, let your guests serve themselves by placing the pork stir-fry in a bowl with a serving spoon. Arrange the lettuce beside the bowl and add small bowls of sliced chillies, chopped peanuts, and lime wedges. Best served warm or at room temperature, but doesn't reheat well.
