San Choy Bow

I may have mentioned that I was on the Paleo diet for some time.  I think it was around 5-6 months.  That was no pasta, bread or rice.  That was when I rediscovered this dish. I love this dish.  I could eat it every day.  In Sydney as a kid we use to have this at the local Chinese restaurant every week.  Its a very novel dish, you eat it with your hands and it is served in lettuce cups! 

San Choy Bow..  Some times we have just San Choy, with out the Bow.  I dont quite know which word represents lettuce, but lettuce is out of season at the moment so sometimes the mince mixture is enough.... I use pork mince, you can use beef or chicken, however I wouldn't know how it would taste so I stick with pork. I have also added some optional ingredients.  This dish is good with or without them.

  I rate this one as one of my signature dishes.

Ingredients.

1 whole lettuce

1 tablespoon of oil

1 small tin of water chestnuts diced

1 onion diced

800grams of pork mince 

4 tablespoons of oyster sauce  

1-2 teaspoons of minced chilli

1 heaped teaspoon of minced garlic

1 handful of dried Shiitake Mushrooms (optional)

1-2 cm's of ginger grated (optional)

Method:

Separate the lettuce cups, wash them and pat them dry with a clean tea towel then set aside for serving.

 Put the shiitake mushrooms in a cup of boiling water to soften, once they are soft and ready for cooking remove them and dice them. Heat the oil and fry the onion on a medium heat till soft and transparent. Add the water chestnuts, the garlic, chilli and optional ginger and fry till fragrant. Add the Shiitaki mushrooms and stir.  

I love water chestnuts.  They are sooooo crunchy!

Two options here, either remove the mix  from the frypan and set aside or chuck the mince in.  I personally just chuck the mince in. 

 Fry the mince till its cooked through.  Add the oyster sauce and stir till it is through the mince mixture.

Add the mixture to the lettuce cups and serve.