I love wrapping food in lettuce cups and usually I use ground turkey or chicken, but this recipe is with strips cut from a pork tenderloin, marinated and cooked. It’s such a fun dish to serve as a starter and let everyone fill their own lettuce cups.
Serves 2 or 4 but can be easily augmented.
The marinade
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark (toasted) sesame oil
1 tbsp Asian chile sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 4 green onions, white and green parts chopped
The other ingredients
1lb fresh pork tenderloin, silver skin removed
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 head iceberg lettuce (I actually buy 2, incase the leaves tear as I’m separating them)
2 tbsp peanut or safflower oil
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
To prepare the marinade, in a large bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well. Cut the pork into matchstick pieces, add to the marinade and stir to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Spread the pine nuts on a small baking sheets and roast until they turn golden, about 8 minutes.
Gently separate the lettuce leaves to use as cups. Cut the larger leaves in half. The lettuce leaves can be refrigerated until you’re ready to cook the meat.
Place a wok or saute pan over high heat and when it’s hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the pork, stir and toss for 3 minutes until it loses it’s pink color. Stir in the pine nuts.
Transfer to warmed dinner plates and serve at once, accompanied by the lettuce cups and hoisin sauce.
To assemble, place a small amount of hoisin sauce in each lettuce cup, add some pork and eat in your hand