Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups (San Choy Bow)

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These delectable Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups are very likely a childhood favorite of yours. They were for us! This dish, otherwise known as San Choy Bow, is a classic preparation of Western Chinese food, and tastes just as good today as you remember it from when you were a kid. The dish, which is a beautifully flavored Pork filling that is wrapped up in a large lettuce leaf has such profound flavors and looks amazing. They’re a super-simple meal to make at home too! It’s great for a healthy and easy dinner to prepare for the family in under 30 minutes

The big flavors in this dish come from an easy homemade San Choy Bow Sauce recipe

Those classic, nostalgic flavors are easy to re-create at home. The sauce is made by combining Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Chinese Vinegar (otherwise known as Shaoxing Wine), Garlic, Ginger, and Sugar. The Sauce is dropped into a pan that has been cooking away with the Vegetables and Ground Pork

The flavors are immense, and the texture is perfect. The Sugar in the sauce helps to not only sweeten the flavor, but thickens the sauce, making it perfect to bind everything together

Then it’s a simply a matter of preparing a few large lettuce leaves and heaping a few spoonful’s of the Pork mixture into them. Top the Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups with a bit of Chili and some roughly chopped Peanuts and it’s time to enjoy!

This dish can be replicated by using Ground Beef instead of Pork if you prefer

Both ground meat variety will work well in this dish, and you don’t need to change anything else on the recipe if you choose to use Ground Beef. We would recommend using a slightly leaner Ground Beef to avoid the final dish becoming greasy

You can also even try using Ground Lamb or Ground Chicken. In fact, a San Choy Bow dish can be made using any of these proteins. There’s no true ‘traditional’ preparation for the dish. For our recipe we’re using Ground Pork as it’s cheap and tastes delicious!

Big, Leafy Lettuce Leaves are what you need for this dish

There are loads of options to choose from when selecting what Lettuce to use. The nostalgic version of the classic Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups typically use Iceberg lettuce. This is, of course, a fine option to choose from. It’s cheap, and does provide a more than suitable vessel to hold the filling

However, lets face it; Iceberg Lettuce is so boring! It’s dated, and synonymous with boring, bland cooking. It doesn’t really carry a lot of flavor and doesn’t look that appealing. Our recommendation is to look for a leafier, greener type of Lettuce such as Romaine, or Baby Gem Lettuce. Find a big, leafy Romaine Lettuce and use the outer leaves for big, hearty leaves that will hold the filling and taste great

Just remember to wash your Lettuce leaves thoroughly before you serve then. There’s nothing you really need to do to the lettuce in terms of preparation as they are served raw. Therefore, it is always a good idea to give them a thorough wash. Lettuce is grown in the soil, and it’s very common for them to still retain a bit of soil / dirt by the time they make it to the grocery store

Just rinse them under the sink or use a salad spinner if you’re super fancy to remove any dirt and grit. I like to serve the Lettuce leaves on a separate plate. That way people can create their own Lettuce Cups at the table, choosing what toppings they want to add to this delicious dish

Speaking of Toppings

For our Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups, we keep the toppings simple. First, the classic topping of roughly chopped Peanuts. These are a mandatory for San Choy Bow as they add a beautiful crunchy texture that goes well with the crunch of the Lettuce. They add a beautiful Peanut flavor and look beautiful on the finished dish

Another popular topping is Chinese Chili Crisps. These things have become massively popular over the last few years and with good reason. They taste great, also have a beautiful texture and add a lovely spiciness to the dish. If you want a little bit of heat (but not want it to completely overtake the dish), then Chili Crisps are a great choice

Finally, for even more heat we recommend adding some sliced up Red Chili. Remove the seeds so they don’t completely overpower the dish with heat and cut them up thin. Then sprinkle a few pieces over each Lettuce Cup along with the Peanuts and (optional) Chili Crisps and you’ve got a ridiculously tasty bite of food ready to go!

Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups (San Choy Bow) Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb. / 450g Ground Pork
• 10 Large Romaine Lettuce Leaves
• ½ Red Onion, diced
• 1 Carrot, grated
• 1 cup Button or Cremini Mushrooms, diced
• ½ cup of Scallions, diced
• 1 Red Chili, finely sliced and seeds removed
• ½ cup of Peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp. Peanut Oil (you can replace with Canola or Vegetable Oil)
  
  

San Choy Bow Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp. Oyster Sauce
• 1 tbsp. Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 tsp. Chinese Vinegar (or Rice Wine Vinegar)
• 1 tbsp. White or Brown Sugar
• 2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. Ginger, grated
  
  

Instructions

1. Add half the Oil to a large wok or frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add the Mushrooms, Onions, and Carrot and cook for 3 minutes until the juices have run
2. Move the Vegetables to the side then add the remaining Oil in the center of the pan. Once hot, place the Ground Pork on top and press down. Leave it for 5 minutes so the Pork begins to char and caramelize, then break up and mix through well
3. Combine the Sauce ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well, then pour into the frying pan. Mix for about 2 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed, then remove from heat
4. Serve the dish by providing separate bowls of ingredients on the table and serve family style. Have the seasoned Pork filling in one bowl, Lettuce leaves on a plate, and a separate bowl(s) for the Chili and Peanuts which are used as toppings
5. To prepare a Chinese Pork Lettuce Cup, place 2 tbsp. of Meat filling in the center of a Lettuce cup. Top with Chili and Peanuts. Wrap up and eat with your hands
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can make the meat filling in advance and refrigerate it for up to two days
• We recommend Romaine Lettuce, but you can use any kind of large, leafy Lettuce for the cups
  
  

That’s our simply and delicious recipe to make homemade Chinese Pork Lettuce Cups, otherwise known as Pork San Choy Bow. It’s a fun and easy to prepare dinner, making it perfect for a midweek meal to feed the family

If you’ve a hankering for more Asian-inspired dishes we recommend you check out some of these delicious recipes:

• Honey Soy Chicken Fried Rice
• Beef Teriyaki Tataki
• Pepperoni Fried Rice
• Crispy Scallion Pancakes with Crispy Duck
  
  

Happy Cooking!