Lettuce and Mushroom Stir Fry

Growing up in an Asian family in Chicago, chef Ken Hom rarely if ever ate raw lettuce, as it was almost always used as stir fry ingredient.  While this may seem strange to western palettes, lettuce makes a wonderful addition to many Chinese dishes.  Here we present a stir-fry centered around lettuce to illustrate how Asian cuisines approach this vegetable.  We’ve cobbled the following together from a number of sources, including Ken Hom’s 1988 Asian Vegetarian Feast (ISBN 978-0688077532) and  Ruth Law’s 1985 Dim Sum (ISBN 978-0961425098).

1 pound Romaine lettuce
15 oz can straw mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon ginger paste
3 tablespoons stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon miso
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon corn starch dissolved into 1 teaspoon water
½ teaspoon sesame oil

Separate the lettuce leaves.  Thinly slice the remaining heart and cut the largest leaves in half along their long axis.  Cut the straw mushrooms in half. 

Heat oil in a wok until just smoking.  Add in garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds.  Add in the lettuce and stir fry for a minute.   Add in the stock, soy sauce, miso, salt and sugar.  Stir fry until the lettuce is wilted, about 2 minutes.   Add in the cornstarch-water paste, stir well, and bring to a boil.  When the sauce has thickened, toss in the sesame oil and remove to a serving platter.  Serve at once.

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