Looking for a healthy lunch to satisfy your Thai food cravings? These lettuce wraps are filled with spicy pork mince, simmered in red curry paste and lemongrass. Ready in under 30 minutes, it’s a great meal prep idea for you to enjoy whilst you work from home, or if you are physically back at work, prepare the pork the night before and enjoy it on your lunch break.
My go-to red curry paste is Mae Ploy’s and just like with my Thai Green Curry, I alway have a batch in the fridge ready to go. You don’t need much, a little goes a long way here. Although red curry paste is packed with flavour, I love to add some extra elements including finely sliced lemongrass and keffir leaves. These, along with the ginger and garlic add extra depth to the pork mince and balance out the spice. If you wanted extra kick, you can go ahead and add fresh chilli or smother them in Sriracha but I love it as it comes.
The beauty with these lettuce wraps is that the lettuce itself acts as a natural coolant and balances the spice element of the pork. Combine that with the radishes and carrot toppings and you have yourself a wonderfully delicious meal. I like to use gem lettuce as I prefer the texture and find them easier to wrap, but you could also use iceberg lettuce which will also add extra crunch! Be sure to rinse each layer of lettuce thoroughly and ideally use a salad spinner to dry them out. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend you invest in one! They are a life saver when making salads!
It also keeps the meal healthy, low in carbs and free from gluten and dairy! If you wanted to make the dish healthier, you could swap out the pork mince for turkey or chicken mince. Just be sure that it is cook through completely, so you may want to increase your cooking times by a further 5 minutes at least.
Perfect for lunch, perfect for sharing or simply perfect for enjoying on your own. These Thai pork lettuce wraps will become your new favourite lunch option!
2
servings5
minutes25
minutes30
minutesIngredients
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1/2 Red onion, finely diced
1 Lemongrass
1/2 Inch Fresh ginger, peeled & grated
11 Garlic, grated
250 g Pork mince, 5% Fat
2 Keffir leaves
1 Tsp Red curry paste
1/4 Cup Water
1 Fish sauce
1 Palm sugar
1 Tsp Cornflour
1 Lime, juice
Sesame Oil
Iceberg or Gem Lettuce, stem removed, rinsed and dried
- Garnish
Radishes & carrots, julienned, sesame seeds, sliced fresh chilli, fresh coriander, fresh lime
Directions
- Place a large frying pan on medium heat. Add olive oil and warm through for a couple minutes. Add the onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes until slightly translucent.
- Bruise the lemongrass with your knife or rolling pin and remove the outer layers before finely slicing. Add to the pan along with the grated ginger and garlic and sauté for a further minute before adding the pork mince and keffir leaves.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and break up the pork mince with the back of a wood spoon. Fry for around 8-10 minutes until all the pork has browned.
- Next, add the curry paste and the water and stir until the paste has fully dissolved and coated the pork mince. Pour in the fish sauce and palm sugar, stir to combine and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
- Mix 1 tsp of water with the cornflour and stir to create a slurry. Pour over the pork mince and stir to thicken the sauce. Turn off the heat, squeeze over the juice of half a lime and drizzle a little sesame oil.
- Serve with lettuce cups, julienned radishes and carrots, sesame seeds and fresh chilli if desired.