Ground Pork Lettuce Wraps

Ground pork lettuce wraps take about 30 minutes from start to finish. Brown a pound of ground pork in a hot skillet until it is crisp at the edges, add garlic, ginger, scallions and chopped water chestnuts, then toss it all in a quick sauce of hoisin, soy and rice vinegar. Spoon it into butter lettuce leaves, top with herbs and a little chili crisp, and eat with your hands.

Ground pork suits this well. It has enough fat to brown deeply and stay juicy, and its mild, slightly sweet flavor takes to hoisin and ginger. The water chestnuts add crunch, and the cold lettuce is a crisp contrast to the warm filling.

At a glance: serves 4, about 16 wraps. Prep 15 minutes, cook about 15 minutes.

Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was talking about gifts, and about the range of what the store sells, when he said:

“there's a cut of meat that, that meets just about any need.”

Gray Shipley

He was not talking about weeknight dinners. But when the need is a fast one, a pound of ground pork meets it: there is nothing to trim or slice, it cooks in minutes, and it carries a sauce well.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sriracha or chili garlic sauce (optional)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 4 scallions, sliced, white and green parts kept separate
• 1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 2 heads butter lettuce (Bibb or Boston), leaves separated, washed and dried
• 1/2 cup fresh herb leaves: cilantro, mint or Thai basil, or a mix
• 1 carrot, shredded, or 1 small cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
• 2 tablespoons chili crisp, to serve
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Whisk the hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sriracha together in a small bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the pork, press it into an even layer, and leave it alone for 3 to 4 minutes, until well browned underneath.
3. Break the pork into small crumbles and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes more, until no pink remains. USDA FSIS sets 160 degrees F for ground pork; check a thick clump with an instant-read thermometer.
4. If there is more than a tablespoon of fat in the pan, spoon off the extra. Add the garlic, ginger and scallion whites and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the water chestnuts and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Pour in the sauce and toss for 1 to 2 minutes, until it coats the pork and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the scallion greens. Taste, and add a little more soy for salt or vinegar for brightness.
6. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the filling into each lettuce leaf. Top with herbs, carrot or cucumber and a little chili crisp, and serve with lime wedges.

Add 1 lb ground pork to cart

The best lettuce for lettuce wraps

Butter lettuce, sold as Bibb or Boston, is the easiest. Its leaves are soft, cup-shaped and sturdy enough to hold a spoonful of filling without tearing. Iceberg is crunchier and makes neat bowls if you cut the head in half and peel the leaves carefully from the cut side. Romaine hearts give you long, boat-shaped leaves that are easy to hold. Whichever you use, dry the leaves well, since water on the leaf makes the filling slide off and dilutes the sauce.

Getting a good brown on ground pork

The step that makes the difference is the first one: press the pork flat in a hot pan and leave it alone. Stirred from the start, ground meat gives off its juices and simmers in them, and you end up with pale, soft crumbles. Left in place for a few minutes, it browns into a crust, and those crisp, browned bits carry the flavor through the whole dish. If you double the recipe, brown the pork in two batches.

Ground pork or ground beef?

Ground beef works in the same recipe; an 80 to 85 percent lean blend browns well and stays juicy. It gives a beefier, more savory filling, while pork is milder and a little sweeter, which suits hoisin especially well. The guide below explains when to reach for each. Bulk pork sausage works too, but it brings its own seasoning, often sage and pepper, so taste before you add the sauce; the pork sausage guide below describes the range.

Making it a meal

Four wraps each make a light dinner. For a bigger one, serve the filling with steamed rice, a quick cucumber salad dressed with rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar, or a bowl of noodles. The filling also makes a good rice bowl on its own the next day.

Keep any leftover filling and the lettuce separately. The filling keeps covered in the refrigerator for a few days. Reheat it in a skillet until it is hot all the way through, and wrap it in fresh, cold leaves.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 160 degrees F as the safe minimum internal temperature for ground pork, so check the meat in the pan before the sauce goes in. Lettuce and herbs are eaten raw, so keep them well away from the raw pork and anything it has touched. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and reheat them to 165 degrees F, the FSIS figure for leftovers. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.