Yuk Sung
If you're in the mood for a light and refreshing meal or appetiser, give Yuk Sung a go! This is a classic Chinese dish with a fragrant ground meat filling wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves. It's packed with healthy veggies and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. The ground meat is cooked in a sweet and savoury sauce, making this a winning recipe for something light that still packs a punch. This is simply a wonderful dish and you can garnish it with an array of spicy and crunchy toppings. Pick your favourite ground meat, whether that be beef, pork or chicken. You can also swap the veggies out for your favourites. So, give it a try with our easy step-by-step instructions and this might just become part of your regular meal plan too!
Ingredients
For the meat filling
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 500 grams Lean beef mince or pork, or chicken mince
- 2 teaspoons crushed garlic or garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger or ginger paste
- 100 grams onion or one medium onion, finely diced
- 130 grams carrot or one large carrot, finely diced
- 80 grams celery or one stalk celery, finely diced
- 200 grams mushrooms finely diced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 2-3 gem lettuces very fresh
Yuk Sung sauce ingredients
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon water
Optional garnishes
- 2 spring onions finely sliced
- 1 red chilli finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- chopped peanuts
Instructions
Prepping
- Dice the onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms finely.
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger (unless using paste).
- Mix together all the ingredients for the Yuk Sung sauce. Make sure the cornflour is fully dissolved.
Make the meat filling
- Add half the olive oil to a large frying pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground meat together with the garlic and ginger. Fry for 5-7 minutes until the meat is cooked through. Break the meat up quite finely whilst cooking. Remove the cooked meat to a bowl.
- Add the second half of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and fry for 1 minute.
- Add the carrots and celery and fry for another minute.
- Add the mushrooms and fry the vegetables until cooked through.
- Add the ground meat back into the pan along with the sauce, salt and Chinese five spice.
- Cook together for 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Assembling the Yuk Sung
- Cut the root end of the gem lettuce to loosen the leaves. Wash and dry the leaves thoroughly. You can also shock the leaves in an ice bath for extra crispiness.
- Spoon tablespoons of the meat filling onto the middle of each gem lettuce leaf. Be careful not to overload it or the leaves will lose their 'bowl' shape.
- Garnish with sliced spring onions, finely sliced red chilli, chopped chives and finely chopped peanuts. Garnishes are optional and you can choose whichever garnish you prefer.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 4servings (circa 16 portions)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 331
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 331kcal | 17% |
| Carbohydrates | 16g | 5% |
| Protein | 31g | 62% |
| Fat | 16g | 25% |
| Saturated Fat | 4g | 20% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 9g | 45% |
| Trans Fat | 0.4g | 20% |
| Cholesterol | 78mg | 26% |
| Sodium | 1289mg | 54% |
| Potassium | 900mg | 19% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 8g | 16% |
| Vitamin A | 5742IU | 115% |
| Vitamin C | 24mg | 27% |
| Calcium | 59mg | 6% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.