nice, simple lunch that the kids will enjoy!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 12 wraps |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 pound lean ground pork
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ cup chopped green onion
- ½ cup hoisin sauce
- ¾ cup pine nuts
- 2 cups diced (1/2-inch) watermelon
- 12 iceberg lettuce leaves
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy, non-stick skillet over high heat. Cook and stir the garlic, ginger, and onion in the hot oil until fragrant, about 1 minute; add the ground pork to the mixture and cook until completely browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from the skillet.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrot and celery to the pork mixture; cook and stir until the carrot and celery begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the soy sauce and green onions into the mixture; remove the skillet from the heat and add the hoisin sauce and pine nuts. Stir the mixture until evenly mixed. Fold the watermelon into the mixture.
- Spoon the pork mixture into the middle of the lettuce leaves; wrap the lettuce around the filling to serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 535 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 31 g |
| Cholesterol | 75 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 29 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 681 mg |
| Sugars | 18 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
A go to dish in our house
This was quite excellent! It sounded so good to me, but I can understand that people are intimidated by the unique addition of the watermelon. It turns out to be a perfect flavor and texture combination! I made the recipe exactly as written and the only change I made was to leave the watermelon separate for leftover storage purposes which probably worked out for the best. I simply tossed the watermelon with the rest of the mix once in the lettuce cup. My husband was hesitant to try the watermelon, did try it, and liked it, but said he would prefer water chestnuts. Water chestnuts would be delicious, too, but the sweetness of the watermelon is too perfect to substitute! Great for a meal or just as an appetizer! A bit labor intensive, but definitely an impressive outcome!
The watermelon is a very nice addition to this. There is no heat to this at all, so next time I may add a pepper or two. Also, I’ll likely add the celery at the end with the watermelon to give the mixture a little crunch.
Okay honestly give this recipe a shot, it’s so good. I omitted carrots just because my boyfriend doesn’t like them, and I was way too lazy to make these into wraps so I just served it on torn up lettuce (no dressing required). It sounds weird but the flavours really work together! I recommend toasting your pine nuts before putting them in 🙂
I highly recommend this recipe with one caveat: mix the minced garlic and ginger in with the pork THEN put the mixture into the pan to cook. Doing this infuses the meat with the garlic and ginger flavors but the main point is to avoid over-cooking the garlic, which becomes bitter with over-cooking. This is very similar to another recipe I have but this one is quicker, and every bit as good. I was going to ignore the watermelon but because I had one sitting on the counter, decided to give it a go. Glad I did. In future, when watermelon is in season I’ll use this recipe again. Didn’t use the pine nuts – not wild about them.
How is it that I’m only the third review in 3 years?? This dish is out-of-this-world delicious. I’m so happy I took a chance on it! It looks a tad sauce-heavy in the pan and I thought there was no way the watermelon would blend with these flavors, but the sweetness of the watermelon and ginger compliment the hoisin and soy sauce beautifully. Very refreshing and unique! If you don’t have lettuce wraps, just serve over plain brown rice. We reheated some leftovers the next day and it doesn’t taste QUITE as fresh, but it’s still pretty darn good. I’ll try it with ground chicken next. I highly recommend this straightforward and unique dish!
Delicious! The sweetness of the watermelon plays well against the saltiness of the hoisin and the pine nuts. celery and lettuce add a nice crunch. I used leftover pork but otherwise followed the recipe exactly
I have made this twice. Once as written and once with chicken. Also as none of us like pine nut’s used almond flake’s 1st time and roughly chopped Macadame nut the following. All give a great flavour so you can use these if you wish. This must be prepared and serve’d as quick as can be. Watermelon has a high water content so isn’t something that can be ( apart from the making’s of the rest of the ingred.) mixed in and kept before serving. Have it ready and just throw it all together. It is a bit of fun. Tastes yummy and fresh. Great for summer. Will make this again and again.