Easy, light and wholesomely delicious vegan lettuce wraps! A fun way to celebrate Lunar New Year with a nutritious feast in the palm of your hand!
Happy New Year everyone! Today I am guest posting my Vegan Lettuce Wraps recipe on rasamalaysia.com. I’m a big fan of Malaysian cuisine for all its intense flavor and sparing use of spices. So it’s no surprise that I absolutely adore Bee’s website when I find it not only features authentic Malaysian cooking but also many gorgeous international and vegetarian cuisines.
I am so excited that the Lunar New Year (February 8th, 2016) is almost here! It is always fun to mingle with the crowd during this festivity to celebrate with the lion dance, fire crackers, and multitude of food sampling at the busy market food stands. Most important of all, this is a special time to enjoy a happy meal with our loved ones.
Traditionally, the First day of the Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate with a nutritious vegetarian meal to purify and cleanse the body, and honor the Buddhist tradition. For this occasion I’ll be having lettuce wraps, swaddled with a medley of savory vegan ingredients. Light, tasty and low-carbs, the vegan lettuce wraps are a great way to start the New Year feast with families, friends and guests.
Lettuce wraps are popular in Asian cuisines, and for good reasons. They’re healthy, delicious and fun to eat. Kids love them as they get to eat with their hands. Everyone enjoys these wraps for the flavorful fillings with the crispy crunch of lettuce.
The vegan lettuce wraps we’re making are bursting with flavors of golden sauteed mushrooms, tofu, crunchy jicama and red peppers, wrapped in tender butterhead lettuce leaves. They are drizzled with a mildly spiced hoisin sauce, and garnished with fresh cilantro and crispy fried noodles for good luck and longevity!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Vegan Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
For the Wraps:
- Butterhead lettuce washed, drained and leaves separated.
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 thinly sliced ginger
- 5 oz fried tofu diced
- 3 fresh shiitake diced
- 4 oz jicama diced
- ½ red pepper red capsicum diced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Cilantro shredded for garnishing
- For the Dipping Sauce:
- ⅓ cup vegetarian hoisin sauce
- ½-1 teaspoon sambal oelek chili paste
- 1-2 teaspoons water
For the Seasoning Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or ABC sweet soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon mushroom seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sambal oelek chili paste optional
- 1 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Mix dipping sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Mix seasoning sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
- Wash, dry and separate the leaves of 1 butterhead lettuce. Set aside.
- Heat skillet at medium heat, add oil and ginger. Stir fry for half a minute.
- Add tofu, shitake mushrooms, jicama and ¼ teaspoon salt and stir fry for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add red peppers and seasoning sauce mix. Stir fry another minute, then transfer into serving bowl.
- Assemble wraps by spooning 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto the lettuce leaves, top with a teaspoon of dipping sauce, and garnish with cilantro and some fried vermicelli (optional). This will make about 8 wraps depending on the size of the lettuce leaves.
- The fried noodles for garnishing are optional. You can prepare them in advance by deep frying some bean thread noodles (cellophane noodles).
