Vegetarian/Vegan San Choi Bao
I always liked San Choi Bao at Thai restaurants when I ate meat, but have missed it since becoming vegetarian 4 years ago. Here is a vegetarian (actually vegan) version thats healthy and tasty. Use whatever vegetables you like that would normally go well in a stir fry.
I always liked San Choi Bao at Thai restaurants when I ate meat, but have missed it since becoming vegetarian 4 years ago. Here is a vegetarian (actually vegan) version thats healthy and tasty. Use whatever vegetables you like that would normally go well in a stir fry.
- 1/2 small onion finely diced
- 4 small mushrooms diced small, stalks included
- 1/2 small zucchini diced small
- 1/2 carrot diced small
- 1 small handful green beans diced small
- .5 cup lentils drained and rinsed well
- 1 teaspoon garlic fresh and finely diced or minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger fresh and finely grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon chilli fresh and finely chopped or dried
- 1 teaspoon lemongrass fresh and finely diced or minced
- 1 whole lime freshly squeezed
- 1 handful fresh coriander roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon olive/canola/sunflower oil for frying
- 1 head iceburg lettuce
- Carbohydrate 15.5538692070485 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.69880676211454 g
- Fiber 5.7118196901083 g
- Protein 4.97623230176211 g
- Saturated Fat 0.23656775 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (251g)
- Sodium 31.696625 mg
- Sugar 9.84204951694016 g
- Trans Fat 0.203589762114538 g
- Calories 86 calories
Step-by-step
- Place the lentils in a saucepan covered in water and cook until slightly tender.
- Sautée the onion over a medium heat until softened and add mushrooms, carrots, beans, and zucchini, cook for 5 mins.
- Turn down the heat and add the lentils, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chilli and cook for an additional 5 mins.
- Add the chopped coriander and squeeze over the fresh lime juice.
- Serve in crispy lettuce leaf cups.
Traditional lettuce wraps rely on minced pork or chicken to fill crisp leaves, but a plant-based filling requires deliberate textural work to mimic that foundation. Without careful knife skills, a vegetable-heavy mixture turns watery and fails to hold its shape inside the lettuce cup. Finely dicing the onions, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and green beans to uniform, pea-sized pieces ensures that every bite contains an even distribution of moisture and bite.
Achieving structural integrity in vegetarian fillings depends heavily on moisture management. Cooking the diced vegetables over medium heat for five minutes allows excess water from the zucchini and mushrooms to evaporate before the aromatics and lentils enter the pan. Introducing fresh garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chilli during the final five minutes of low-heat cooking preserves their volatile oils without burning the minced alliums. Rinsing and draining canned lentils thoroughly removes canning liquid that would otherwise dilute the lime juice and fresh coriander added at the finish.
Leftover vegetable filling stores well in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheating the mixture gently in a dry skillet revives the texture of the vegetables, though fresh iceberg lettuce leaves must be separated and dried immediately before serving to maintain structural crunch.
