Miso Basil Beef Lettuce Wrap

 Miso Basil Beef Lettuce Wrap 2

I have such a soft spot for wraps. I love that in one bite you get so many different flavors; it's pretty much a party in your mouth. So when I was in K-town recently eating bbq and wrapping the delicious slices of beef and hot steaming rice in crisp lettuce, it reminded me of a dish I used to make often. Unlike the shumai from last week, the wrapping is all done at the table as you eat so it's super fast to make.

I'm lucky enough to live close to the Union Square greenmarket so I took a trip up there and found myself some gorgeous basil, Boston lettuce and orange peppers. You can use red or yellow but the green variety would be a poor substitute because you want the sweetness and brightness of flavor.

Lettuce Wrap Ingredients

You want all of your ingredients prepped before you start the stove because the cooking is fast. Mince up some garlic and ginger, pick a handful of basil, and julienne the pepper. The easiest way to julienne peppers is to start by cutting the top and the bottom. Then you cut into the main part of the pepper and then roll out the pepper while removing the white pith as you come across it (should attach to the main pepper in 3-4 locations). That way you get a nice, long sheet of pepper than you can easily julienne. Of course, I don't waste the top or the bottom I just cut those up as well.

Pepper Prep

I bought pre-cut steak for stir-frying, but if you didn't, just cut your steak into thin strips. You can easily substitute the meat for another as both chicken and pork go really well with the dish. Have your miso mixture prepared and turn on the stove! Cook your ingredients in the order of beef, ginger and garlic, miso mixture, and peppers. Tear the basil and mix it in once the heat is turned off and you are ready to start wrapping.

Miso Basil Beef Lettuce Wrap 1

Miso Basil Beef Lettuce Wrap
 
Recipe Type: Main
Author: Yukari
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 lb beef, cut into thin strips
  • 2 bell peppers, julienned (red, yellow or orange)
  • Handful of basil, torn
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 knob ginger
  • 1 head of boston lettuce
  • 2 tbsp miso
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp sake
  • 1 tsp chili bean paste (optional for spiciness)
  • White rice as needed
Instructions
  1. Mix the miso, soy sauce, sugar, sake and chili bean paste and set aside
  2. Heat a pan on medium high until hot and coat lightly with canola oil
  3. Season the steak strips with salt and pepper and sauté
  4. Once the steak strips have changed color, add in the miso mixture and wait about 1 minute
  5. Add the julienned peppers and cook for another minute until the peppers are cooked but still have a bite
  6. Turn the heat off and mix in the torn basil
  7. Serve with Boston lettuce and white rice
  8. Wrap and enjoy!
 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quicker and Easier Shokupan

Image
  The  shokupan post  is without a doubt my most popular and I'm so grateful that people love it. I continue to make it on a weekly basis because our family loves toast for breakfast. Because I make it so often, I noticed that I don't always have the full 3 hours to devote to bread making. For the time constrained days, I simplify the ingredient list and use a food processor. It shaves off about 45 minutes from the original method. So I wanted to share with you the quicker version today. In fact, the food processor is a better tool for building up the gluten in shokupan. Since I don't have a dish washer and the food processor has so many parts to hand wash, I switch it up with the stand mixer when I have plenty of time to spare. If you are lucky enough to own a dishwasher, I highly recommend using the food processor. Step 1 - Measure: Before I do anything, I measure out 20g butter and cut it into small pieces so that it comes up to room temperature by the t...
Read more

Shokupan

Image
  If you don't have 3 hours to devote to bread making and own a food processor, I've written up a quicker version  here !  EDITED (1/29/17): I've made this countless times now and have a few minor tweaks for an even fluffier bread. Main changes are upping the speed of the standmixer to 4 from 2 for more kneading, dividing the dough into 2 balls instead of 3, bench rest of 20 minutes instead of 10-15 minutes, and proofing the second round until the dough is about 4 inches in height. Also, I often skip the water roux and just add the flour and water portion into the dry and wet ingredients because 1) I'm lazy and 2) I freeze my bread once cooled and sliced so it stays fresh without the roux. I have updated the directions and recipe below for these changes.   There are countless recipes for Hokkaido milk bread on the internet, which is shokupan's sweeter cousin. It's absolutely delicious but too sweet for the daily bread. The shokupan is the true workhorse. It make...
Read more

Mochi Cake

Image
  Mochi cake aka mochiko cake (餅粉ケーキ) is an amazingly simple cake that has the deliciously chewy texture of mochi. Typically in Hawaii, it's made using butter and coconut milk but I prefer the more simple version using canola oil and regular whole milk because I love spreading some jam on mine. I always keep mochiko (glutinous rice flour) in my pantry so it's an easy cake to make when I need a last minute dessert or snack to share with friends. The only item you'll need that's not a regular cake ingredient is the glutinous rice flour (explained  here  in another mochi based dessert post). They're available in most Asian supermarkets and they're usually $1 a bag. I like to keep these stashed away in my pantry because they're so useful for Japanese desserts. Also it's perfect for when you need to bake something gluten free (despite the name there's zero gluten). First, preheat the oven to 350°F. Then mix 2 eggs, 50g of sugar and 250ml (1 cup) of milk w...
Read more