The Hubby and I love dan dan soup, but unfortunately the dish isn’t low carb. But looking at the recipe, the sauce is and I thought it would taste great as dan dan lettuce wraps. Topped with a few green onions and peanuts, they had a ton of flavour. And I mean a TON. Because the sauce is supposed to go in broth and have noodles to soak it up, instead of mixed with only meat and eaten with a bit of lettuce, it ended up being a very intense dish. Almost too overpowering, but that unique peanut butter and spicy peppers flavours were there. Also both the Hubby and I weren’t that thrilled with the szechuan pepper, both in taste and heat, so I’ll definitely cut down on it.
I’m posting the recipe because I liked the overall flavours, but I’m thinking of putting it with the pork, somewhat in the way you would make taco meat. Put a portion of the paste, along with some water, mixed in with the ground pork, and let it simmer. Also, if you don’t detest shirataki noodles like I do, this would actually be really good with broth, the sauce and the meat. Like the ramen version of a kicked up pho.
Dan Dan Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
The Pork
- 4 teaspoons oil
- 1 lb ground pork
- 3 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar free Teriyaki sauce
- 4 teaspoons Chinkiang black vinegar
- 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- 1/3 cup sui mi ya cai package of preserved mustard greens
The Sauce
- 3 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Splenda
- 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
- 1/8 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 1/2 cup chili oil
- 4 cloves garlic very finely minced
- 1/4 cup oil
Other
- Head of lettuce washed and cut into quarters
- Scallions chopped for garnish
- Peanuts pan roasted and chopped for garnish
Instructions
- In a wok, heat a couple teaspoons of the oil and brown the ground pork.
- Combine the five spice, teriyaki, oyster, and soy sauce, and pour over the pork.
- Cook until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Move to the side of the pan and add a couple teaspoons of oil to the bare side.
- Add the package of the preserved mustard greens and saute for a couple minutes.
- Combine the beef and suimiyacai.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small food processor.
- At this point I added half the sauce directly into the meat and it was a bit too overwhelming. I plan on adding a portion of the sauce and about 3/4 cup water, stirring, and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Serve with the lettuce wraps, and scallion and peanut garnishes.