{Larb} Healthy Thai Lettuce Wraps Recipe — Salt & Wind Travel (2024)

FAQs

What country do lettuce wraps come from? ›

Believed to be of Chinese origin, lettuce wraps went on to infiltrate Southeast Asia before coming to America, where they were made popular by P.F. Chang's. One of the most copied menu items in restaurants, not only in the U.S. but globally, these fan favorites are easy to recreate at home, plant-based 411 style.

Firstly, larb originates from Laos whereas san choy bow is a Chinese dish, which influences the flavour profile of each of the dishes. Larb heroes fish sauce, coriander and lime; the typical south-east Asian tastes, whereas san choy bow is more umami in flavour thanks to soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil.

Simply saute some pork and garlic until golden brown, then turn off the heat and toss in some fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and fresh peppers. Stuff the pork mixture into crisp butter lettuce leaves, and spoon a simple sauce over top, made with lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and more chiles.

One of my favourite Chinese starters – Lettuce Wraps with pork or chicken, loads of hidden crunchy vegetables in a tasty savoury brown sauce, bundled up in fresh lettuce. Also known as San Choy Bow, it's arguably the ultimate “just happens to be healthy” food in the whole wide world …..

You can use any type of green leafy lettuce for lettuce wraps, but popular types of lettuce include Boston bib lettuce and romaine hearts. Cabbage leaves or jicima wraps would also work great.

Lettuce wraps are much lower in calories than bread, and they are very fresh. Corn Tortillas → Corn tortillas tend to be cleaner than regular bread. You can even use a tortilla to replace a pizza crust which is much lighter option.

Laab / Larb (Lao: ລາບ; Thai: ลาบ, RTGS: lap, pronounced [lâːp], also spelled laap, larp, or lahb) is a type of Lao meat salad that is the national dish of Laos, along with green papaya salad and sticky rice. Laab in the Lao language is a noun that refers to meat or other flesh that has been finely chopped and pounded.

The minced pork is wonderfully seasoned with fish sauce, chili flakes, lime juice, toasted sticky rice to give it some crunchy texture, and a wonderful assortment of fresh herbs to bring it all together. If you've eaten larb (ลาบ), I'm sure you love it, but if you've never tried it, you're in for a real treat!

Why? Authentic larb gai is made with padaek which is a fermented fish made into a thick fish sauce. Fermented fish is what makes larb smell. If you can't get over the smell, this is one of the ingredients that can be omitted from the recipe without any substitutions.

The sauce is what makes it delicious and to make it, simply mix hoisin sauce with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil to make a sticky glaze for the chicken. Pick up what you need on your way home, and you can have these for dinner tonight.

What to eat with Thai lettuce wraps? ›

The best side dishes to serve with lettuce wraps are chicken dumplings, coconut shrimp, shrimp pasta, beef fajitas, cheese dip, cranberry sauce, french fries, cauliflower rice, egg rolls, potato soup, shrimp tempura, pickled carrots, Thai cucumber salad, stir-fry eggplant, mango and jicama slaw, quinoa and black bean ...

Kale or collards make super stand-ins for tortillas while Iceberg or butter lettuce leaves make great taco shells or “cups” for Asian-style fillings.

“Lettuce” is literally an inexpensive leafy vegetable used in salads and sandwhiches. You'll see slang dictionaries in which “lettuce” is said to be slang for “money,” and you may even see “lettuce” as a synonym for “money” in a thesaurus.

While lettuce wraps originated in China, they've since migrated throughout Southeast Asia, and they're especially popular in Laos and Thailand. Which brings us to Larb, an uber-popular meat salad from Laos and Thailand, and my personal favorite variety of lettuce wrap filler.

The wrap in its Western form probably comes from California, as a generalization of the Mexican and Tex-Mex burrito, and became popular in the 1990s. It may have been invented and named at a southern California chain called "I Love Juicy" in the early 1980s.

Lettuce was first cultivated in ancient Egypt for the production of oil from its seeds. The plant was probably selectively bred by the Egyptians into a plant grown for its edible leaves, with evidence of its cultivation appearing as early as 2680 BC.

Lettuce is cultivated in many countries around the world, with China, US, and India being the top producers [4] .

Fun fact: Lettuce wraps originated in China and have since spread to Southeast Asia and now are super popular in Thailand. Why are lettuce wraps so popular? They are a great option for lunches as they have endless potential as they are simple and easy to integrate with various flavourings and foods.