Lettuce Wrap

Gong Xi Fa Cai! 恭喜发财 Chinese New Year is here early this year, January 26, 2009, the Year of the Ox. Food as usual, plays an important role at most Chinese festivals and gatherings. This is especially so during the reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year.


We always have an impressive line-up of food such as chicken, prawns, fish, roasted pork and other auspicious-sounding dishes on the dining table.


As it's not an easy task to cook for a big gathering of family members within limited kitchen space, we always have a potluck of dishes brought together, cooked in different kitchens. The base soup, rice and praying peripherals would be prepared in my mother-in-law's house where everyone congregates.

Today, however, I'm showing the most interesting way of eating the yummy food with our hands instead of using chopsticks or fork and spoon, the lettuce wrap!


The lettuce wrap is a popular item among my siblings. We must use the Chinese lettuce or sang choy, as its leaves are larger and more pliable, allowing more food to be wrapped.


We just pile small pieces of our favorite food on to a lettuce leaf, wrap it neatly like a burrito, dip into our preferred sauce and pop into the mouth. Yum, yum! No recipe for this, just make sure the lettuce is fresh and clean!


This way, we can have a many mouthfuls of all the different yummy stuff eaten in mini portions.