| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Active: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1⁄2 teaspoon roasted chile powder or red chili flakes
- 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
- Kosher salt
- 1⁄4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, lemon juice or white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1⁄4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- Quick Pickles (see recipe below)
- 12 Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves
- 1⁄2 English cucumber, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
- Fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 cups cooked jasmine rice, warmed (optional)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Kosher salt
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
- 8 medium red radishes, julienned
Instructions
- For the shrimp: In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering-hot. Add the garlic and chili powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, less than 1 minute. Add the shrimp in an even layer and season with a pinch of salt. Cook, turning once, until the shrimp are lightly browned and almost cooked through, but still slightly translucent, 2 to 3 minutes total. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and wipe out the wok with a paper towel. Place a measuring cup with 1⁄4 cup water next to your cooktop. Set the wok over medium heat and add the brown sugar, lime juice (this helps keep the sugar from crystallizing) and 2 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring often, until the sugar turns into an amber-colored caramel (it should be as thick as honey), 6 to 7 minutes. Then, stir in the fish sauce and soy sauce and remove from the heat. Once a smooth sticky sauce forms (about as thick as honey), after 30 seconds or so, add the cooked shrimp, scallions and scallions, toss to coat.
- Assemble the lettuce wraps: Remove the Quick Pickles (see recipe below) from the fridge and arrange the lettuce leaves, cucumber and cilantro on a serving platter. To serve, spoon some of the shrimp onto a lettuce leaf along with some rice (if using) and top with a few pickles, cucumber and a sprig of cilantro. Roll up and eat immediately.
- In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar water, sugar and 2 pinches of salt and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the carrot and radishes and toss to combine. Transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 424 |
| Total Fat | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 55 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 23 g |
| Protein | 30 g |
| Cholesterol | 183 mg |
| Sodium | 1021 mg |
Reviews
This recipe is delicious! I would definitely make it again. Like other reviewers, my sauce wasn’t thick like honey consistency, but it worked cause I drizzled it over coconuts rice. I came here to see other people’s review about the following “1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper” and “Place a measuring cup with 1⁄4 cup water next to your cooktop.” The instructions never tell us further steps afterwards
This is really good! However don’t skimp on the toppings otherwise the fish sauce makes it taste salty.
This was delicious. I didn’t cook my sauce for 6-7 minutes so it wasn’t as thick as honey but that was ok because I put it over brown rice/quinoa so we had a little sauce for that. Husband loved it and I will definitely make it again. As for the reviewer who said it was too salty, for the life of me I don’t know how that is possible. Only 1 Tbsp of soy sauce in the whole recipe does NOT make it salty. Next time I’m going to add water chestnuts and pea pods.
My sauce didn’t thicken as much but the flavors still good.
OMG. Been looking for a ThI lettuce wrap recipe. Thanks for the new show
I was so excited to see a Thai food show on FN!!! This recipe is sooo good. Tonight was the third time I have made this. Finally a charm!!! The recipe itself is very good, however, just due to my preferences, I wanted to change a couple of things. This time, I dredged the shrimp in rice flour and deep fried until fully cooked and crispy. So I added the garlic and pepper flakes to the oil in the wok without the shrimp and proceeded to make the recipe as written, except I cooked the sauce on medium low until it finally got to the right consistency. Took longer, but held the consistency much better. I took it off the heat and added the fried shrimp and stirred just till coated. It stayed nice and sticky this way. All of the veggies complimented this so nicely!!!
Full on Flavor!! I love lettuce wraps and these are the best! I thought the sauce would be too sweet but it is perfectly balanced by the lime, fish sauce and soy sauce. They say cook the sauce 6-7 minutes and my sauce was a great consistency. It’s easy to control the spice level, too. My husband doesn’t like as much heat so I added more chili flakes to the sauce after taking his out. Scrumptious!! These are definitely on my list of things to make. Can’t wait for more shows!!
Very salty, sauce didn’t thicken up as easy as it should. Not sure what the problem
Made this for dinner tonight. Really, really good. The only thing I changed is that when I added the shrimp back into the sauce, it thinned it out a bit too much (from the oil/juices from the shrimp. I took the shrimp back out and let the sauce cook/thicken for a few more minutes, then put the shrimp back in. It was so delicious wrapped in lettuce, with rice, cilantro and cucumber (I didn’t do the pickles) and a few chopped cashews on top. Yum!
Made these yesterday after watching the show…..my sauce didn’t get quite as sticky….almost for the flavor was there! Yummy and being able to control heat is good for me as my heat/spice meter is pretty low. Looking forward to trying the corn recipe next!