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Sticky pork and pickle lettuce wraps

Name: Sticky pork and pickle lettuce wraps
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 400g pork mince; 4 garlic cloves, grated; 3cm piece fresh ginger, grated; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 tbsp gochujang; 1 tsp chilli flakes; 4 tbsp light soy sauce; 3 tbsp mirin; 1 tbsp sesame oil; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 6 radishes, trimmed; ¼ cucumber; 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar; 2 heads little gem lettuce; 2 tbsp honey; Toasted sesame seeds to serve

By: Georgina Hayden

Published: 9 Feb 23
Updated: 25 Mar 24

Fill lettuce leaves with sticky Korean pork, pickled radish and cucumber to make moreish lettuce wraps. Perfect as a light meal or canape. You can freeze the pork, too – try it ladled over rice for a filling dinner.

Recipe by Georgina Hayden, award-winning food writer, cook and presenter. She developed a love of cooking while growing up above her parents’ Greek Cypriot taverna in London and is influenced by a love of family and her = Mediterranean heritage. Her latest cookbook is the Sunday Times Bestseller Nistisima. Follow her on Instagram @georginahayden

Easy
November 2022

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4
Hands-on time 30 min, plus marinating

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 172kcals
Fat: 18.2g (4.4g saturated)
Protein: 21g
Carbohydrates: 23.9g (15.4g sugars)
Fibre: 1.8g
Salt: 2.6g

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Ingredients

400g pork mince
4 garlic cloves, grated
3cm piece fresh ginger, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp gochujang
1 tsp chilli flakes
4 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 radishes, trimmed
¼ cucumber
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 heads little gem lettuce
2 tbsp honey
Toasted sesame seeds to serve

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Method

Put the pork mince in a large mixing bowl and add the garlic, ginger, onion, gochujang, chilli flakes, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. Stir everything together, breaking up the mixture with a fork as you go. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Put a large frying pan over a medium heat, then drizzle in the vegetable oil. Spoon in the pork mixture, break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 8-10 minutes until it starts to brown. At this point, you can cool and freeze it (see Make Ahead).
Meanwhile, finely chop the radishes and cucumber, then put in a bowl with a generous pinch of salt and the rice wine vinegar. (If you’ve frozen the pork, make sure it’s defrosted and reheated before you do this). Mix the pickles together, then leave to one side. Slice the base off each head of little gem, then snap off the leaves. Lay out the lettuce leaves on a serving board.

Drizzle the pork with the honey, then cook for 2 minutes until sticky. Spoon into the prepared lettuce leaves, top with a little of the pickled radish and cucumber, then sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds to serve.

Recipe from November 2022 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 172kcals
Fat: 18.2g (4.4g saturated)
Protein: 21g
Carbohydrates: 23.9g (15.4g sugars)
Fibre: 1.8g
Salt: 2.6g

delicious. tips

To freeze the pork mix, cook to the end of step 2, then cool, cover and freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost, then continue from step 3, frying briefly with a little oil to heat it through thoroughly.
Gochujang is a Korean chilli paste – you’ll find it in large supermarkets (or use another chilli paste, although it won’t taste the same).