Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

10 months ago 90

Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps are a lower-cal mentation of Vietnamese atom insubstantial rolls. The caller herbs and peanut dipping condiment are cardinal here! Everything other you tin switch: prawns for shredded chicken, food oregon adjacent tofu, with immoderate shreddable veg you want. Excellent no-cook meal!

Vietnamese lettuce wraps

These lettuce wraps are not strictly Vietnamese authentic (as acold arsenic I know), but they surely clasp each that we emotion astir Vietnamese nutrient – caller and airy yet ne'er boring, utilizing an abundance of crunchy vegetables, herbs and a slayer peanut dipping sauce.

That’s decidedly a signature of Vietnamese nutrient – wickedly bully sauces that marque everything delicious! Honestly, you could conscionable smother a vessel of different bland boiled vegetables successful that condiment and it volition marque it 100% scoff-able!

Vietnamese peanut condiment for Vietnamese lettuce wraps

Drizzling condiment connected Vietnamese lettuce wraps

Ingredients successful Vietnamese lettuce wraps

Here’s what you request to marque these. Yes determination are a just fewer components. But erstwhile you stitchery everything, it’s conscionable a substance of a spot of chopping past piling everything connected platters for radical to assistance themselves. No cooking! 🙌🏻

The peanut dipping sauce

I’m putting this archetypal because, frankly, it makes you hide you’re eating steadfast due to the fact that it’s truthful good!

Natural peanut butter – Pure peanut food is made with JUST peanuts – nary sugar, lipid oregon different additives – truthful the peanut flavour is stronger. It’s besides thinner which makes it much suitable for making sauces – commercialized dispersed volition marque the condiment overmuch thicker. You’ll find earthy peanut food successful the wellness nutrient conception oregon alongside different spreads successful regular market stores.
Hoisin – Sweet and savoury, this is simply a flavour shortcut truthful don’t skip it!
Lime juice – For caller tang. Substitute with atom vinegar.
LOW FAT coconut milk – Thinner than afloat abdominous (so the condiment isn’t excessively thick) and besides the coconut flavour is not arsenic beardown truthful it doesn’t overwhelm the different flavours. If you lone person afloat fat, that’s fine, conscionable bladed it with a small water, directions successful the look notes.
Garlic – Because it makes it better.
Sambal oelak – A chilli paste with flavourings, for a spot of heat. It doesn’t marque this condiment spicy. Substitute with immoderate different chilli condiment oregon paste (just adhd a spot and taste) oregon consciousness escaped to permission it out.
Dark soy – Deepens the condiment colour and adds flavour positive salt. You tin substitute with regular oregon airy soy sauce, but the condiment colour volition beryllium a spot paler.
Sugar – For a interaction of sweetness. If you usage afloat abdominous coconut beverage oregon commercialized peanut food spread, you mightiness not request this.
Salt – Just the soy isn’t enough, and adding much made it excessively soy-saucey, I found, and overtook the peanut flavour. So I switched to adding a spot of salt.

THE LETTUCE WRAPS

Prawns/shrimp – Here successful Australia, we are blessed with large prawns! Sold pre-cooked, boiled consecutive retired of the h2o to fastener successful freshness. However, consciousness escaped to navigator your own, I’ve included directions successful the look notes.
Other macromolecule options – Because the peanut condiment is truthful good, you tin virtually usage immoderate macromolecule adjacent if it’s plain! Think – shredded poached chicken, oregon leftover pan-fried fish oregon salmon (flake into large chunks), and adjacent non-Asian foods similar bits of roast beef. And of course, leftover Lemongrass Chicken oregon Pork would virtually beryllium perfect.
Lettuce – Use immoderate lettuce you privation suitable for wrapping oregon stuffing. I’ve utilized babe cos (romaine) which are bully and crisp, which are earthy boat-shapes making them perfect for making lettuce wraps. Butter lettuce, which person brushed leaves truthful they wrapper without breaking, are besides ideal. Iceberg lettuce tin besides beryllium used.
Beansprouts – Perky and fresh, and nary chopping! (Tip: Store successful a instrumentality of water, afloat submerged, alteration the h2o each mates of days. They volition enactment caller for a week, compared to 2 – 3 days successful the bag).
Cucumber – Julienned. Not excessively finely, a spot of crunchy is nice!

Fresh herbs – The classical operation of mint and coriander/cilantro, to beryllium utilized successful abundance! For those of you who can’t basal coriander/cilantro, usage much mint positive chives and/or greenish bulb (cut into batons).
Vermicelli noodles – oregon solid noodles. These capable retired the repast a spot truthful it’s not conscionable vegetables. But if you’re truly counting carbs, you could omit them oregon opt for a lower-carb enactment similar konnyaku (konjac) which are the celebrated Japanese zero-calorie noodles that you tin adjacent find successful regular market stores these days (like this one astatine Woolworths successful Australia).
Peanuts – for sprinkling.
Birds oculus chilli – for an optional deed of caller vigor and a beauteous sprinkle of reddish colour connected the platter.

QUICK PICKLED VEGETABLES – optional!

You tin wholly conscionable usage plain carrots, finely julienned utilizing a shredded oregon container grater, oregon immoderate nifty weapon work.

Or you tin adhd large other flavour into your wraps by making Vietnamese pickled vegetables! These are the aforesaid pickles utilized successful Banh Mi and it’s 1 of the things that makes it truthful special: the crunch with the tang balanced with a spot of sweet. Here’s what you need:

Carrot and daikon (white radish) – These are 2 pickled vegetables commonly utilized successful Vietnam, including successful Banh Mi. They are chopped into bladed batons truthful you get a terrific crunch (albeit pickled-softened-crunch!) erstwhile you wound successful them. Don’t beryllium tempted to shortcut cutting the vegetables by utilizing a container grater. I tried (the lazy navigator successful maine couldn’t resist) – and it conscionable wasn’t the same. A large vinegary heap of coleslaw-like mush. I missed the crunch!
Rice vino vinegar – This is the vinegar utilized for the pickled vegetables, an Asian vinegar made from rice. Substitute with pome cider vinegar.
Salt and sugar – For pickling. These pickled vegetables are a spot saccharine and spot salty, bully equilibrium betwixt the two.

How to marque Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps

It’s nary cook, if you usage pre-cooked prawns similar I do!

Soak vermicelli noodles successful boiling h2o for 5 minutes (or immoderate your packet says). Then drain, rinse nether h2o (so they don’t instrumentality together) and let excess h2o to drain disconnected thoroughly earlier utilizing (about 5 minutes successful the colander).
Quick pickled vegetables – Dissolve the sweetener and brackish successful blistery water, past premix successful the vinegar.
Pickle the carrot and daikon for 2 hours past drain. Or support them successful the pickling liquid for weeks!
Cut the prawns successful fractional horizontally and region the vein (that’s a bully connection for poop shoot which I truly wanted to debar writing, but for clarity, decided I amended see it 😂).
I similar to chopped the prawns thinner due to the fact that they beryllium wrong lettuce wraps better. I find full prawns a small excessively chunky, though if I was utilizing tiny prawns I would usage them whole.

Lay it each retired connected a platter

Basically, erstwhile the supra prep has been done, you conscionable laic everything retired connected a elephantine platter oregon successful assorted bowls, plonk it connected the array and archer radical make your ain dinner! 😂

ASSEMBLING THE LETTUCE WRAPS

And arsenic for the lettuce wrapper part, determination truly are nary rules. But here’s a usher for the bid successful which I bash it:

Noodles first past immoderate vegetables you privation to add. Because – newsflash – you don’t person to worldly everything you spot connected the platter into each lettuce wrap!!
Prawns – Top with prawns and worldly the herbs down the side.
Sauce – Drizzle with sauce, sprinkle with peanuts and chilli.
Then bundle it up and bite!

Vietnamese lettuce wrapper bundled and acceptable to eat

And determination you person it. Another 1 of my DIY dispersed meals. I’m a large instrumentality of these for gatherings! Take much of what you like, debar the things you don’t. Everything tin beryllium prepared good successful advance, piled onto the platters past kept successful the fridge until you’re acceptable to serve.

Bonus: It travels well. In fact, I sent the platters you spot successful this station to my squad astatine RecipeTin Meals. They navigator for the susceptible 5 days a week, truthful it’s the slightest I tin bash to navigator for them each present and then. (Well, technically sprout leftovers…..same, same! 😈).

Got much suggestions for fillings? Share them beneath truthful others tin work your ideas! – Nagi x

Watch however to marque it

Vietnamese Peanut Sauce Lettuce Wraps

Recipe video above. Such a large DIY summertime spread, a regular each done summertime successful my circles! It's fundamentally a lower-cal mentation of Vietnamese atom insubstantial rolls. The caller herbs and the peanut condiment are cardinal here! Everything other you tin switch: prawns for shredded chicken, cookware fried salmon oregon different food (flake into large chunks) oregon adjacent tofu (I cookware fry batons). Use immoderate shreddable veg you want.

Emergency version: store bought roast chickenhearted (shredded) + packet shredded coleslaw veg + peanut condiment + noodles. SO GOOD.

Course Light mains, Mains

Cuisine Vietnamese

Keyword Lettuce wraps, vietnamese lettuce wraps

Prep Time 20

Servings as a meal

Calories 320cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

The lettuce cups:

300g / 10 oz peeled full cooked prawns/shrimp , mean (600g/1.2lb unpeeled full prawns – this is what I use) – Note 1
75g / 2.5 oz dried vermicelli noodles (or solid noodles oregon rice)
12 ample oregon 16 -20 small lettuce leaves (I utilized babe cos/romaine), eg iceberg, food lettuce

Veg and herbs:

1 batch quick pickled carrots and daikon , beneath *recommended* OR 2 carrots finely julienned (use plain)
2 cups beansprouts
2 cucumbers , julienned
2 cups mint leaves
2 cups coriander/cilantro sprigs (sub with chives + other mint)
3 birds oculus reddish chilli , finely sliced (optional)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts , finely chopped (recommended)

Vietnamese Peanut Sauce:

2 tbsp natural peanut butter , creaseless (ie not sweetened) – Note 2
2 tbsp hoisin
1 – 2 tbsp lime juice , sub atom vinegar
1/3 cup LOW FAT coconut milk (Note 3)
1 large ail clove , finely grated
1 tsp+ sambal oelak (or different chilli sauce/paste of choice), tin omit (adj to taste)
1 tsp dark soy (Note 4)
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp cooking brackish / kosher salt

Quick pickled vegetables

2 medium carrots , peeled chopped into 2 mm / 1/10″ batons
1/2 large achromatic radish (daikon) , peeled, chopped the aforesaid arsenic carrots
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup white sugar
4 tsp cooking brackish / kosher salt
3/4 cup rice vino vinegar (sub pome cider vinegar)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Pickle archetypal – Put the boiling water, brackish and sweetener successful a bowl. Mix to to dissolve, past adhd vinegar. Submerge vegetables and permission for 2 hours. Drain past usage per look (or store successful fridge submerged successful liquid).
Peanut condiment – Mix the peanut condiment ingredients and acceptable speech for the flavours to meld portion you hole the platter. Start with 1 tbsp lime foodstuff and adhd much if you privation tarter.
Prawns (shrimp) – Cut the prawns successful fractional horizontally and region the vein.
Noodles – Soak the noodles successful boiling h2o per packet directions. Rinse nether acold h2o (to forestall stickiness) past drain precise well.
Lay it each retired – Pile everything onto a elephantine platter oregon enactment things successful small bowls, past fto everybody assistance themselves!
Assemble – Here's my order: lettuce leaf, noodles first, past veg* (carrots, legume sprouts etc), prawns, worldly herbs down the side, drizzle with sauce, sprinkle with peanuts and chilli. Bundle and bite!

Notes

* Sometimes I similar to beryllium a rebel and not usage each the veg successful each lettuce wrap, particularly if I’m utilizing tiny lettuce leaves. Just enactment what you privation successful your lettuce wrap!

1. Or navigator your own – conscionable flip 300g/10oz earthy peeled prawns with a small brackish and pepper. Preheat lipid successful non instrumentality cookware connected precocious and navigator each broadside for 1 1/2 min (medium) to 2 minutes (large ones), past remove.

2. Natural peanut butter is conscionable peanuts, nary sweetener nary salt. Flavour is much aggravated and it is runnier than peanut food dispersed which makes it thought for sauces. Mix good earlier usage arsenic it separates if not utilized regularly. Can sub with peanut food dispersed but your condiment volition beryllium thicker with somewhat little peanut flavour.

3. Low abdominous coconut milk is thinner which makes the condiment not excessively thick. If you lone person afloat fat, that’s fine, usage 1/4 cupful past apical up with water.

4. Dark soy is much aggravated flavoured than regular and airy soy, and darkens condiment colour. But you tin substitute with airy oregon all-purpose soy (more connected quality soy sauces here).

Leftovers – The peanut condiment volition support for 4 days successful the fridge oregon freezer for 3 months.

Nutrition assumes each the condiment and vermicelli noodles are consumed, and fractional the pickles. You astir apt won’t usage each the pickles but you’ll beryllium good with that due to the fact that they past for weeks and weeks successful the fridge!

Nutrition

Life of Dozer

This is however helium kicked disconnected the caller twelvemonth – begging for the precise croissant we conscionable gave to Jeff*. Shame connected you Dozer. Shame connected you! 😂

* Jeff is simply a section who lives astatine Bayview canine parkland successful the bluish beaches of Sydney wherever I lived for 10 years until 10 months ago. I inactive instrumentality Dozer for a romp astatine the formation regularly! Jeff is simply a large crushed wherefore radical question from each implicit Sydney to sojourn Bayview canine parkland – due to the fact that helium is the crushed wherefore the parkland is truthful pristine.