Lettuce Wraps with Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Categories : appetizers & savoury snacks, easy peasy, fish & seafood, lent, main dishes, potatoes & vegetables, Recipes, soups & salads, vegetarian or vegan

Super easy and quick, these sweet and sour shrimp make a great light lunch wrapped in lettuce leaves. Who knew lettuce could be so filling?

We’ve all seen the lettuce wraps that are floating around Pinterest. They look really inviting, and really healthy. I’ve been meaning to try them for a while now, but I’ve been suspicious about their “filling” ability. I mean, we’re talking lettuce. Anyway, I’m glad I tried them. They are surprisingly filling, but of course that does depend on what you put in them. If you fill them with more lettuce they might not be. Now, I wouldn’t want these on their own for my main meal of the day, that might leave me wondering if there is any popcorn in the cupboard. They would make a great lunch as is, but for dinner I’d go for some basmati or jasmine rice on the side.

Now as regards the filling (as in the stuff inside, not how full it makes you. I’m using this word too much today). One thing I am going to try more of this year is cooking with seafood and fish. I don’t know why I don’t already. It’s not like we have a shortage of it here in Greece. So I thought I might try the lettuce wraps with a shrimp filling. And since I’m working on a series of vinegar recipes for sponsored posts over on the Greek side, I went for a sweet and sour sauce for my shrimp. I did however switch the white wine vinegar which you might normally find in sweet & sour, with balsamic. A balsamic with thyme honey in particular. The result was a lovely depth of flavour, and I’m glad I tried it. I hope you will too!

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

1 carrot, small, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

a few lettuce leaves

1/2 mini cucumber, in matchstick sized pieces

2 Tbs tomato ketchup

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar (if you can find a variety with honey use that)

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs honey

1/4 tsp garlic paste

1/4 tsp ginger, ground

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp chilli flakes

1 ½ tsp corn flour

2 rings pineapple, tinned, chopped

170 gr shimp, pre-cooked and peeled (weight after prep)

1 Tbs syrup from the pineapple tin

few cashews, chopped

chives or spring onions to garnish, chopped finely

sesame seeds to garnish (optional)

Step 1

Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the oil, carrot and red pepper. Cook gently for 10 minutes till softened. Turn the heat down if needed to prevent veg from catching.

Step 2

In the meantime, arrange the lettuce leaves on a plate and top with the cucumber.

Step 3

Whisk the ketchup, balsamic, soy sauce, honey, garlic paste, ginger, pepper, chilli flakes and corn flour in a small bowl.

Step 4

After the 10 minutes are up, turn the heat back up to medium and add the pineapple. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Turn to medium high and add the sauce. Stir into the veg and add the shrimp, stirring again to coat in the sauce. Add the pineapple syrup and the cashews and cook for two minutes till the shrimp is heated through.

Step 5

Spoon some filling onto the lettuce leaves and sprinkle with chives or spring onions, and sesame seeds. To eat, just roll up and enjoy!

Note: This shrimp with sweet & sour sauce would also be lovely with basmati or jasmine rice.

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