Crispy Thai Beef Lettuce Cups

Crispy Thai Beef with Light Dressing - Photo by JayDi Photography

Crispy Thai Beef Lettuce Cups

Oh the weather outside is frightful , err warmer than usual but it's been grey and dreary.  Ok, that is frightful. I know we're in for a good wallop when it finally gets here.  So what's the best thing we can do in the meantime,  you ask?  Prepare out culinary passports and head out to Thailand.  This is a low-carb dish, full of flavour and just the right amount of heat that it will make you imagine yourself in a foreign land in the comfort of home.  Don't shy away from trying this out. It looks daunting, but comes together rather quickly.

According to the hubster, this is his most favourite of dinners that I make. 

The first few times I've made this dish, I used the dipping sauce that came with the recipe. It's amazing.  But the last time I made this, I tried it with a peanut sauce that I use in another dish and it's now the way the hubster wants me to make it.  

Crispy Thai Beef with Peanut Sauce - Photo by JayDi Photography

Crispy Thai Beef Lettuce Cups

Ingredients:

Meat mixture:

Olive oil for frying

200g lean beef mince

200g minced pork

Toasted sesame oil for frying

1 – 2 red chilis – finely chopped

1 x 5cm piece of ginger, grated or finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce

Zest and juice of 1 lime

3 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 little gem lettuces, separated into leaves, to serve

Sweet and spicy dipping sauce:

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp olive oil

1 – 2 tsp fish sauce

1/2 chopped chilli (leave the seeds in for extra heat)

The juice of 1/2 a lime

A bunch of coriander, chopped

Alternate Peanut Dipping Sauce

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup soy-sauce

2  red chilis, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp brown sugar

**You'll need a larger bowl to be able to whisk and breakdown the peanut butter until it's creamy. Be careful, it will splash if you start too vigorously.

Directions:

– Heat a large frying pan and add a little oil. Mix the beef and pork mince together and season with salt and pepper and mix well to ensure the seasoning is evenly distributed. Fry the mince in the hot pan for five to seven minutes until crisp and brown and broken down to a fine consistency. Drain the crisped mince in a sieve – this will help it stay crispy. Set aside.

– Add a tablespoon of sesame oil to the pan and add the garlic, ginger and chilli. Fry with a pinch of salt and the sugar for two minutes. Add the drained mince and stir to mix.

– Add the fish sauce and heat through. Stir in the lime zest and juice, then add the spring onions, stirring for thirty seconds. Turn off the heat.

– Mix all the dressing ingredients together and adjust to taste.

– To serve, spoon some of the mince mixture into the lettuce leaves, drizzle with a little dressing and serve.