Few cuisines have as strong of a grasp on the complexity of flavor like Thai cuisine. Each dish a dance of sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and bitter. These lettuce wraps are a great example of bringing in a variety of flavors that play off each other in a dance. My inspiration for this dish comes from Gordon Ramsay’s Chili Beef Lettuce Wraps. I modified some of the methods and the ingredients to dial in the flavors that I like in a lettuce wrap. You can do the same too! If you make this and there is any flavor you want to take out, or a flavor you want to add in, go for it!
A lot of lettuce wraps are made with different ground animal proteins. In making my own version, I wanted to achieve a vegan option that packed the same flavor and texture. After many attempts of different vegetables, legumes, and soy products, I settled on Beyond Meat. The Beyond Beef has a pleasant texture and allowed me to remain consistent to the ground protein base that many versions have. To be clear, I do not receive sponsorship or affiliate benefits from them, I just really like their products. A common ingredient for salty additions in Thai cuisine is fish sauce. This was actually considerably easier to find a replacement for. Instead of sticking to a normal soy sauce and fish sauce combo, I swapped in Tamari. Tamari is essentially soy sauce but is gluten free and made from 100% soy. The flavor is very similar but amped up. Think more pungent and a slight “funk” to the flavor. Just like that, Vegan Lettuce Wraps were born.
If you are looking for a dish that will leave you always coming back for more, that is hearty without feeling heavy, and bursting with fresh flavor, look no further! You can expect a great balance of salt, sweet, spice, sour/acid, and a burst umami to bring it all home.
Let’s Dive in!
As always, do yourself a favor and prep everything before you start cooking. Chop up green onions and jalapenos and set them aside in separate dishes. To your dish of jalapenos, grate in the ginger and garlic. Measure out your tamari in a dish and set it aside, and so on until everything is prepped.
Before beginning the cooking phase, let’s mix up our simple dressing/sauce for the lettuce wraps. Combine brown sugar, tamari, olive oil, toasted sesame oil, chilis, and cilantro in a dish and set them aside. You will use this dressing, as much or little as you want, on the finished lettuce wraps.
Now let’s cook. I recommend using a non stick or well seasoned pan to make the filling. Heat your pan over medium high. Once hot, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and the beyond beef. Break it up until you have reached the consistency you want. Add cracked black pepper and salt to taste. Your goal with this step is to get your crumbles nice and crispy. For me, this took about 8 minutes. Once ready, transfer the crumbles to a mesh strainer and set it aside.
Next, wipe out your pan and return it to the medium high heat. Add sesame oil, chilis, garlic, ginger, a pinch of salt, and brown sugar. Stirring continuously, sautee for about 2 minutes. Add your protein back in and stir to combine. Next, add the tamari, stirring to combine and heat through. Add the zest of a lime and the lime juice, again stirring to combine. Lastly, throw in the green onion, mixing for about 30 seconds before removing from the heat and transferring to your serving dish.
Now you are ready to eat! Spoon the protein mixture into a piece of lettuce, drizzle the dressing over top to taste and you are all set!
I hope you enjoy this as much as my family and I do!
Ingredients
Chili "Beef"
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 lb Plant Based Protein Beyond Meat, Impossible Meat, Etc.
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 2 cloves Garlic grated
- 1 inch Ginger Root peeled, grated
- 1.5 whole Jalapeno or Fresno Chili Pepper thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp +1 Tsp Tamari
- Zest of 1 lime
- Juice of 1/3 of a lime
- 3 whole Green Onions finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- Cracked Black Pepper to taste
Dressing
- 1 Tbsp +1 Tsp Tamari
- Juice of half a lime
- 1 Tsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 whole Jalapeno or Fresno Chili thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp Cilantro rough chopped
- 1 Tsp Brown Sugar
Serving
- Small crisp lettuce little gem, bostom, butter, etc.
Instructions
- Thinly slice 1.5 chili peppers and set aside in a bowl. Into the same bowl grate two cloves of garlic and 1 inch of fresh ginger root.
- Finely chop green onion and set aside.
- Measure 1 tbsp brown sugar into a dish and set aside.
- Combine all dressings ingredients and set aside.
- Heat pan over medium high heat. Once hot add olive oil and 1 lb of plant protein like Beyond Meat Burger or Impossible Meat. Break the protein apart into desired size chunks. Season to taste with Sea Salt and Black Pepper. Continue to sautee until very crispy. This should take approximately 8 minutes. Drain sauteed protein in a mesh strainer and set aside.
- Wipe out your pan. Add 1 tbsp sesame oil, thinly sliced chili pepper, and grated garlic and ginger. Sautee for approximately 2 minutes on medium high. Add sauteed plant protein back into the pan and stir to combine. Add tamari, stirring to combine and warm through. Add the zest of one lime and the juice of 1/3 of the lime, stirring to combine. Add green onion, stirring for 30 seconds and remove from heat. Place in a serving dish.
- Serve by scooping the filling into a piece of crisp lettuce, add dressing to taste, and enjoy!
