Thai Lettuce Wraps with Shrimp, Herbs and Eggplant Caviar

Shrimp Larb

  • Shrimp Larb
  • Shrimp Larb
  • Shrimp Larb
  • Shrimp Larb
  • Shrimp Larb
  • Shrimp Larb

NOTES

Traditional Larb is mostly just meat, herbs and a lettuce wrap, but I like adding additional items to the mix — choose your own adventure. This recipe was inspired by a chicken larb recipe on Bon Appetit; try the poultry version if you like the whole lettuce-wrap theme. I wanted something crispy on top, so I bought an unsweetened crispy brown rice cereal and it worked great. Fried shallot and garlic are available at any Asian food store and are a great pantry item to have around. You can make your own fried shallot too. Recipe here.

INSTRUCTIONS

To make the sauce, combine sugar, rice wine vinegar, Sriracha, fish sauce, lime juice and chili in a bowl and mix until sugar is completely dissolved

In a food processor, add thinly lemongrass, shrimp (tails and shells removed), garlic, chili, fish sauce, ginger, shallot and lemongrass. Pulse until combined. Add water chestnuts and pulse briefly.

Pre-heat your BBQ or grill-pan on medium heat. Slice trumpet mushrooms lengthwise and brush with mixture of hoisin and sesame oil. sprinkle with sea salt. Pierce skin of eggplant. Add mushrooms and eggplant to the grill on medium heat. Eggplant should charr on the outside, and become soft and gooey on the inside. When they feel squishy to the touch remove from heat and allow to cool. Cook mushrooms until they have nice brown grill marks.

Scoop the eggplant flesh into small bowl, discarding the skins. Add sesame oil, toasted/crushed coriander seed and sprinkle of sea salt. Mix and set aside.

Arrange lettuce leaves on a platter with a pile of the herbs of your choice. In a medium sauté pan, heat 1 tbs sesame oil. Cook shrimp mixture just until it turns light pink, moving the meat around in the pan and breaking it up into small pieces. There will be excess liquid in the pan, so remove the shrimp mixture with a slotted spoon and add to a serving dish.

Serve with crushed roasted peanuts, fried shallot, fried garlic and unsweetened crisped rice and your dipping sauce.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

HARD

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
SERVES

3

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
PREP TIME

30 MINS

Shrimp

  • 1 
    lb 
    peeled, deveined shrimp, tails removed
  • 2 
    tbs 
    minced shallot
  • 1 
     
    thai chili, seeds removed
  • 1 
    tsp 
    minced fresh ginger
  • 1 
    tbs 
    fresh lemongrass, thinly sliced, outer leaves removed
  • 1 
    tbs 
    fish sauce
  • 1 
    clove 
    garlic
  • 1 
    can 
    water chestnuts, drained
  • 1 
    head 
    Butter Lettuce leaves

Dipping Sauce

  • 1/4  
    cup 
    freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2  
    tbs 
    Mirin Rice wine vinegar
  • 1 
     
    Thai chili, seed removed, sliced thin
  • 2 
    tbs 
    brown sugar
  • 1/2 
    tsp 
    Sriracha sauce

Mushrooms

  • 5 (or more) 
     
    Trumpet mushroomss
  • 1 
    tsp 
    toasted sesame oil
  • 1  
    tbs 
    hoisin sauce
  •  
     
    sea salt to taste

Eggplant Caviar

  • 1 
     
    medium eggplant
  • 1/4 
    tsp 
    toasted sesame oil
  • 1 
    tsp 
    coriander seeds, lightly toasted and crushed
  • 1 
    tsp 
    sea salt

Garnish

  • 1 
    tbs 
    fried shallot/garlic (packaged)
  • 1/4 
    cup 
    crispy brown rice cereal
  • 1/2 
    cup 
    mixed herbs (mint, basil, thai basil, cilantro)

INSTRUCTIONS

To make the sauce, combine sugar, rice wine vinegar, Sriracha, fish sauce, lime juice and chili in a bowl and mix until sugar is completely dissolved

In a food processor, add thinly lemongrass, shrimp (tails and shells removed), garlic, chili, fish sauce, ginger, shallot and lemongrass. Pulse until combined. Add water chestnuts and pulse briefly.

Pre-heat your BBQ or grill-pan on medium heat. Slice trumpet mushrooms lengthwise and brush with mixture of hoisin and sesame oil. sprinkle with sea salt. Pierce skin of eggplant. Add mushrooms and eggplant to the grill on medium heat. Eggplant should charr on the outside, and become soft and gooey on the inside. When they feel squishy to the touch remove from heat and allow to cool. Cook mushrooms until they have nice brown grill marks.

Scoop the eggplant flesh into small bowl, discarding the skins. Add sesame oil, toasted/crushed coriander seed and sprinkle of sea salt. Mix and set aside.

Arrange lettuce leaves on a platter with a pile of the herbs of your choice. In a medium sauté pan, heat 1 tbs sesame oil. Cook shrimp mixture just until it turns light pink, moving the meat around in the pan and breaking it up into small pieces. There will be excess liquid in the pan, so remove the shrimp mixture with a slotted spoon and add to a serving dish.

Serve with crushed roasted peanuts, fried shallot, fried garlic and unsweetened crisped rice and your dipping sauce.

I have had a wonderful problem this past week — what to do with a fridge full of Gotham Greens Lettuce. Gotham Greens donated a massive amount of their hydroponic lettuce to our opening reception at MoMA PS1 last weekend, and I was the beneficiary of the leftovers. A Butter Lettuce salad has been incorporated into nearly every meal I have eaten over the past 7 days, and incredibly, I yet to reach my limit.

The thing about hydroponic lettuce is that, it is flawless. Each leaf is in-tact, making it the perfect vehicle for spreads, dips and herbs (check out the photos of their Gowanus rooftop urban farm to get a sense of what I am talking about here). Like most “Asian” dishes that I attempt, this dish evolved into something totally other than the traditional Larb that I enjoyed so much on my trip to Thailand this past Fall. I substituted shrimp for poultry, and jazzed it up with some Thai basil pesto and eggplant caviar (eggplant caviar has nothing to do with fish roe, it is just delicious eggplant mush in which the vegetable seeds resemble tiny eggs). The pesto was an improvisational work – Thai basil, fish sauce, chili, honey garlic, peanuts and sesame oil, all the building blocks of Thai cookery in one green paste. Give it a whirl, it is wonderful on toast or tossed with Soba noodles.