Thursday, May 10, 2012

Asian Lettuce Wraps - 180 Recipe

Asian Lettuce Wraps
1 lb lean ground beef, or ground turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2” piece of ginger, minced
1/3 C yellow onion, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
8 crimini mushrooms, halved then sliced
1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C aged balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder (found in the Asian section)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
NTM salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C basil or thai basil leaves, sliced thinly
1 can of water chestnuts, sliced
romaine or butter lettuce leaves
bean sprouts
cilantro leaves
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (optional) (Huy Fong or see recipe below)

Heat wok on medium-high heat till hot. Add ground beef, garlic, ginger, and onion to pan and turn down heat to medium. Break up beef and fully incorporate the mixture together. Cook for a few minutes then add zucchini and mushrooms. After another minute add rice vinegar, aged balsamic, five spice powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, and basil leaves and cook until beef is done. Add the water chestnuts. Let mixture cool for a few minutes. Taste and add more rice or balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper as desired.

Rinse lettuce leaves and dry. Fill each leaf with a few spoonfuls of beef mixture. Top with bean sprouts, cilantro leaves and Sriracha. Ready to serve.


Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce Recipe
Fill a container half full with peeled garlic cloves. Fill the rest of the container with 2 (at least) habaneros & a mix of dried serrano & cayenne pods that have been stemmed but not seeded. Add 1 tablespoon of non-iodized salt & fill the container (to cover chile pods & garlic) with 5% strength white vinegar. Apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar will work but will give you a different flavor.

As the chile pods re-hydrate top up the liquid with water or vinegar. After a few days to a week of steeping in the vinegar dump the mixture into the food processor or blender and puree until a smooth, thick consistency is reached. If the mixture is too thick it may be thinned with vinegar or water.

To read more about the Dynamite 180 program click here.