This weekend (September 23-25, 2011) is Oakland’s Eat Real Festival, and surprisingly, it’s not all about the food trucks. Don’t get me wrong, I plan on eating as much of the Tamales, Samosas, Sliders, Grilled Cheese, Mac & Cheese, Pizza, Spam Musubi, Ribs and other tasty bites as I can… But it’s nice to know that there are plenty of free activities to participate in while I’m waiting for my next craving.

This week’s featured recipe for Gingery Pork and Shiitake Mushroom Lettuce Cups with Hoisin Sauce involves a good amount of veggie prep, but the good news is that chopping is probably the toughest part of this recipe! Plus, once you’ve checked out Sean Baker’s Veggie Butchery demo on Saturday, you’ll be chopping and dicing those vegetables like a samurai.

Lettuce Cups Filled With Gingery Pork, Shiitake Mushrooms and Hoisin Sauce
This recipe can also be found in our Appetizer Recipe Library!

Ingredients
Pork Mixture:
3/4 pound ground pork
6 shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoons ginger, peeled and minced
1 Tablespoon Thai sweet chili sauce
1 Tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1 8-ounce can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 Tablespoon canola oil 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce

24 Boston lettuce leaves, washed and trimmed into 3 inch rounds
Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped

Methods/Steps
Prepare Pork Mixture: Place the ground pork into a medium bowl. Finely dice the shiitake mushrooms and red bell peppers. Mince the garlic and ginger and add all of the chopped ingredients into the pork. Add the chili sauce and fish sauce and mix well.

Chop Aromatics: Dice the water chestnuts and set aside. Thinly slice the scallions and chop the cilantro, set aside until ready to use.

Cook Pork Mixture: In a large skillet or wok, heat the canola oil. Add the pork mixture and stir-fry over high heat, breaking it up, until it is cooked through and starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Pour mixture into a strainer to remove excess oil from the pan. Return the pork to pan over low heat and stir in the water chestnuts, scallions, cilantro, sesame oil, oyster sauce and cilantro. Toss mixture and remove from heat.

Serve: Trim lettuce leaves into 3-inch rounds. Brush very lightly with hoisin. Spoon 1 Tablespoon of pork into the middle of each leaf. Garnish with peanuts and arrange on a serving platter.

Serves/Makes
Makes 24 cups

Recipe created by Parties That Cook®  www.PartiesThatCook.com