Have you ever tried cooked lettuce?
No?
You’re probably thinking, no way, it’ll be like when the lettuce leaf on a hamburger gets all warm and limp. Yeah, I don’t like that on my burger either. But what I’m talking about is cooking lettuce on purpose. Stir frying lettuce Chinese style.
While the cooking brings out the sweetness, the lettuce ribs retains some of its crispness. In Chinese cooking, there’s hardly any food that’s raw.
I have to admit as a kid I thought it was strange when my mom cooked up lettuce but it’s actually quite good. Back then, only iceberg lettuce from the supermarket was available. Nowadays, I use romaine from the farmer’s market.
I usually make it one of two ways, either with fermented bean curd (Chinese cheese) or a simple sauce. Either method is super quick and easy. And if you have a lot of lettuce that needs to be eaten up, it’s a great way to go as it cooks down quite a bit.
Stir-Fried Lettuce
1 medium head romaine lettuce
1/2 teaspoon oil
1 green garlic or garlic clove, minced
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
Salt to taste
Sauce
1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Cut the lettuce into approximately 2-inch lengths. In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.
Heat a wok on high, when hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for a few seconds. Add the lettuce and cook until it begins to wilt about a minute or so. Stir in the sauce and salt to taste and continue cooking for another 30 seconds until the leaves are just wilted. Serve immediately.
Fermented Bean Curd Variation
1 to 2 cubes fermented bean curd
1/2 teaspoon oil
In a small bowl, mash the fermented bean curd cubes in a bit of water and set aside.
Heat a wok on high, when hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the lettuce and cook until it begins to wilt about a minute or so, then add the fermented bean curd water mixture, stir to mix thoroughly and cook for another 30 seconds until the leaves are just wilted. Serve immediately.
Other Greens
Stir-fried Yu Choy Sum
Stir-fried Amaranth with Garlic
Sautéed Spinach
Yes to cooked lettuce! So underrated and so delicious. I love how the thick ribs soak up flavor — so much like bok choy.
Funny you should mention this- I recently made stir fried lettuce for the first time while photographing Nava Atlas’ recipe (shameless self promotion, you can find it here: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/chinese-style-stir-fried-lettuce/) It was an instant winner! I’ve been won over to the side of cooked lettuce lovers.
Yummmm … this brings back memories. My mom used to just stir fry with oyster sauce. I will try your suggestion of romaine.
I am still waiting for you to veganize steamed meat “cake”!
Mmm this actually looks really good! My mom used to cook lettuce before I was born, but I usually make fun of her for that :-P
Eileen – Me too. It’s so simple and easy.
Hannah – Glad you got to try it while working no less. :-)
shan – Yup, I’ve heard of using oyster sauce, my mom usually went with the fermented bean curd. At first, I didn’t know what is steamed meat cake, but now I remember. Gosh, I haven’t eaten that since I was a kid. It’ll be interesting to try to veganize it, thanks for the idea. :-)
LittleMonsterx14 – LOL, I didn’t make fun of my mom but I do remember thinking it was weird. Tasty though.
Yup, I had cooked lettuce before and not a huge fan of them if they are just bland, but your version sounds really good with the seasoning…. My mum used them when she did not have napa or greens around, they are sort of like a backup vegetable in stir-fries or even in noodle soups.
Hmm that looks good. I love the smell of cooked greens. I make bok choy in this way. But I have also added romaine lettuce to broth-style soup before and it is really delicious and refreshing to have it in this way too.