Ingredients
2 heads boston lettuce
1 dried chinese mushrooms --
6 8 mushrooms
8 oz waterchestnuts -- canned
1/2 cup bamboo shoots
1 lb ground pork
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp dry sherry
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt -- to taste
1/4 cup corn oil
1 cup celery -- minced
Directions
1. Black mushrooms are optional. If using, soak in boiling water for
30 minutes, drain, cut off stems, and chop. 2. Wash lettuce, dry, and
arrange 16-20 of the largest leaves on a serving plate, then
refrigerate. Use head lettuce if Boston lettuce is not available. 3.
Mince the waterchestnuts and bamboo shoots; add to drained mushrooms.
Set aside. 4. Mix together the pork, slightly beaten egg, soy sauce
and 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) of the cornstarch. Set aside. 5.
Combine sherry, 1/2 cup broth and salt. Add remaining 1 teaspoon
cornstarch to the remaining 1/3 cup broth, blend well. 6. Heat a wok
or heavy skillet; add oil to the hot skillet. Add pork mixture and
cook, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. 8. Add mushroom mixture;
cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. 9. Stir in wine mixture and the
cornstarch mixture. 10. Add celery and stir until celery is heated
through. If celery is minced fine enough, it won't need any further
cooking time. 11. Place meat on a serving dish. To serve, let each
guest fill a lettuce leaf with pork and roll the leaf. This is to be
eaten with the fingers.
Recipe By : Jo Anne Merrill
Servings: 4 servings
Chinese Pork-Lettuce Rolls Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Asian; Bread; Breads; Chinese; Meat
The History of Recipes
It is possible to track the history of written recipes back into distant history, in fact as far back into history as early Egypt, and maybe even further. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these old records were just primitive pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
In fact, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to historians are a few tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making those who drank it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Later on, in The time of the romans around 25BC a man called Apicius compiled a number of scripts showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by the Romans. In his works, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were divided into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and dessert, something we still use today. Additionally, he informs us how the ancient Romans made use of many aromatic flavours, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as thyme, rue and dill. Later, there are some books which were published in the 1300s : one book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these books have no connection with the indian food that is familiar to us all today, but rather descriptions of the types of food cooked for the rich people of the period. Later, in the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods and herbs from the holy lands, including spices such as coriander, parsley, basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes caused an explosion in publications on food, many of which still exist in academic collections. For the decades that followed, the wealthy families of Wesstern Europe strove to serve up the most extravagent meals, and consequentially chefs and their collection of recipes were much in demand. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cookery and recipe collections really came of age. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collating, trying out, and recording recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the time we get to the 1900s, recipe publications are greatly in demand mostly as a result of better eduction, leisure time and having more money. |
We hope you enjoy this Chinese Pork Lettuce Rolls recipe.
