Stir-fried Pork and Arrowhead Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Arrowhead or 'nga ku' as it is known in Cantonese is very popular during Chinese New Year especially in its' crisply fried chips incarnation but this potato-like 'vegetable' is also very popular in stir-fries like in today's simple version.  Arrowhead has a crunchy and slightly powdery texture that is great with this usual pork stir-fried in dark soy sauce - wrap some pork and arrowhead in a piece of crisp refreshing lettuce and you've got yourself a winner!  For arrowhead, do make sure to clean them with a stiff brush as peeling does not work that well here, especially if you bought the small versions.  We are always lucky as my aunt who lives outside of the city actually plants them and we of course get a bounty - tastes invariably better than the ones you buy at grocery stores, at least in my opinion.  Anyway, this is savoury and appetizing dish will be sure to fit the bill if you like lettuce wraps, the addition of the crunchy arrowhead is sure to be pleasing.




In other non food-related news, I have been hobbling around with a hurt knee since yesterday as I am actually suffering from 'runner's knee' - never thought this day would come as I am well, rather extremely lazy and running/ jogging really was never my thing if you know what I mean.  For some reason, I started jogging and running a few weeks ago and surprise surprise - I really enjoy it and I think I probably overdid it too fast considering that I was such a lazy non-exercising person earlier.  I guess that goes to show that apart from being lazy, I am rather impatient as well.   So here I am, having to hobble around for at least another week or so - it's really hard to resist running right now as I think I got addicted to the once elusive runner's high, but yes I shall rest for if not I can kiss all my high heels I mean my knee good bye!  I can only say that I guess it's true what they say, life really is unpredictable :O.






This is part of my series in my Yuen Chun Recipes, an ongoing project on this blog.


Serves 4


Ingredients:


500g pork, sliced (you can use a bit of fatty pork if you prefer), marinated in 1/2 teaspoon corn flour for about 15 minutes
18 small arrowheads, cleaned with a scrub and halved, then soaked in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 iceberg lettuce, rinsed well and leaves separated by hand (keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve)

Seasoning: (I used Yuen Chun's)

1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 -2 tablespoons thick caramel sauce or to taste
1/2 salt or to taste



1/3 cup water

Method:

Firstly, heat your wok until almost smoking.  Add about 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat.  Turn heat to low.  Add garlic, fry till aromatic.



Turn heat to medium and cover for about 2-4 minutes.  Remove cover and turn heat up to stir-fry again.  Do a taste test and add more salt or soy sauce if desired.  On high heat, give the whole dish a quick stir-fry again.  Turn off heat and plate.  Serve with crisp lettuce leaves.

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