Asian-Inspired Crispy Pork Lettuce Wraps
This recipe is part of a series about leftovers! The pork in the image is leftover pork shoulder from an easy, totally tender, and crazy flavorful roasted pork shoulder. I bring this up because, if you haven’t already made the pork shoulder, then this recipe isn’t super useful. If you want to make something like this right away, you can do it with thinly sliced pork, beef, chicken, or tofu! But I would encourage you to make the pork shoulder and then turn it into these lettuce wraps because the transformation of turning a giant hunk of meat into something healthy and delicate is magical.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups torn pork shoulder
1 head of butter lettuce, leaves removed and washed
½ cup pickled carrots*
¼ cup basil leaves
¼ cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
½ cup hoisin
2 limes, cut into wedges
Pickled carrots*
Adapted from Drive Me Hungry
3 carrots, cut into matchsticks
2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons water
1 ½ tablespoons chili oil
3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
LET’S COOK:
To pickle your carrots, shove all the vegetables into a mason jar. Whisk together other ingredients and pour over. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before enjoying
Preheat oven to 450
Cook the pork on a sheet pan until crispy around the edges, around 5 minutes
Once the pork is hot put it on a large plate and arrange all the veggies around it
Serve with the hoisin
To make the lettuce cups put a little of each ingredient into a butter lettuce leaf and finish with a little hoisin and a nice squeeze of lime juice
[SERVES 4]