Crispy Pork Belly Lettuce Bundles
I don’t know about you, but at the end of the week I always have a random assortment of little bits of different vegetables. These Crispy Pork Belly Lettuce Bundles are a great way to use up all those small bags and bowls of produce that can so easily go uneaten. I have this recipe categorized as an appetizer, but I served it as the main course, and it was truly a complete meal.
I start this dish by preparing the pork belly. You need to cook it low and slow, making sure it does not boil over. If you really enjoy meat, you might want to cook a larger portion of pork, because this recipe just makes enough for a bite of meat in each bundle. But, the meat is very rich, so for us the small amount of meat was perfect.
I used Mai Fun noodles in this recipe, but you could substitute any thin pasta. In addition, feel free to use different vegetables, or leftover meat, or leftover noodles, or even rice. This is a very versatile recipe.
Crispy Pork Belly Lettuce Bundles
Ingredients
For the Crispy Pork Belly:
- 1 lb. skinless pork belly cut into one inch cubes
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. sliced garlic
- 1 tbsp. sliced ginger
- ½ tsp. fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp. mirin
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1½ cups chicken stock
For Lettuce Bundles:
- 6 leaves Boston lettuce large enough to hold ½ cup of filling
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp. lime juice
- 1 tsp. honey
- ⅛ tsp. kosher salt
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup Mai Fun rice noodles, cooked
- 1 red radish, thinly sliced
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ½ cup thinly sliced red pepper
- ½ cup thinly sliced carrots
- ½ cup thinly sliced cucumbers
- ½ cup thinly sliced red cabbage
- ¼ cup chopped unsalted peanuts
Instructions
For the Crispy Pork Belly:
- In a 3 quart saucepan, bring half a pot of water to a boil. Add pork, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the pork well.
- In a small Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil on low heat. Stir in the sugar, garlic, ginger, fennel, mirin, and soy sauce and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pork and chicken stock to the pot. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and glossy.
For the Lettuce Bundles:
- Mix together the olive oil, honey, garlic, lime juice, salt, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Add the carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, cabbage, radish, red onion, and red pepper and stir until all the vegetables are coated.
- Set out bowls of the pork, mixed vegetables, Mai Fun noodles, and peanuts, and let everyone assemble their own lettuce bundles.
