Make Ahead
Lettuce Leaf Rolls
- Serves 12
Author Notes
These fresh delights are the perfect meal for the warmer months. For those of us that love finger food, yet dread the glutenous starches that overrun the market-these are your answer, your godsend. I have re-imagined the rice paper roll, with just a hint of San choy bow.
You can pack them full of whatever your heart desires, and make for a fun activity for the kids or guests. The innards will spill, and the sauce will drip, but there is absolutely no shame in scraping and licking the remnants of the rolls fallen glory (think Tacos).
The ingredients are fresh and leave you with an instant happy full feeling. Without any gluten, dairy, sugar, or starches you'll feel light on your toes after these gems. —Sandra Ramacher
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Lettuce Leaf Rolls
-
110 grams
Chicken thighs
-
1/4 cup
Water
-
2
Large eggs
-
1 tablespoon
Water
-
1 teaspoon
Olive oil
-
110 grams
Smoked salmon
-
1
Medium carrot
-
1
Medium cucumber
-
1 bunch
Shallots
-
1 bunch
Fresh coriander
-
1
Avocado
-
1
Large head of lettuce
- Dipping Sauce
-
60 milliliters
water
-
60 milliliters
Fish sauce
-
2 tablespoons
Fresh lime juice
-
2 tablespoons
White wine vinegar
-
1 tablespoon
Honey
-
1/2
Stem of lemon grass, pale section only, finely chopped
-
1
Long fresh red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
-
1
Garlic clove, crushed
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C/350°F
- Place the chicken and water into a small pot and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
- In the meantime mix the egg with the water and olive oil and pour into a muffin tin.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
- Shred the chicken, egg and salmon and set aside in separate piles.
- Grate the carrot and cucumber and set aside in separate piles.
- Chop the shallots and set aside.
- Slice avocado into thin slices and set aside.
- Remove the coriander leaves from their stems and set aside.
- Remove the heart of the lettuce and gently remove the leaves setting them aside.
- Place 2 cups of water into a large pot with strainer (or without is okay too).
- Get water to simmering point until steamy. Then place the lettuce leaves inside and steam for 1 minute until they are fully wilted.
- Remove immediately from the pot and let them cool on a flat bench.
- Assembling the rolls will be a bit of a trial and error operation as each leaf is a different size. Begin by placing a small amount of each ingredient (but only some of either the chicken, egg or salmon) horizontally in the centre of the wilted lettuce leaf.
- Bring the lower flap up to cover ingredients. Fold over the ends of each side as if they are hugging the ingredients, and then roll the whole thing up until you have a chubby finger looking package.
- To make the sauce place all the ingredients into a blender and blend for a few seconds. Serve with the lettuce leaf rolls.
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