Chef Rob Feenie · Cactus Club Cafe
Korean-Style BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps
Makes about 25 wraps
EVEN VANCOUVER’S chain restaurants, such as Cactus Club, are embracing Asian flavours! This is a gluten-free meal from Canadian Iron Chef Rob Feenie that features Korean ingredients. Other Asian gems on the Cactus Club menu include wor wonton, tuna tataki, Szechuan green beans, edamame and teriyaki rice bowl.
This “make-your-own” appetizer is a feast that can go around the table all night long. The pork shoulder requires overnight curing and hours of slow baking. It’s the only item that takes time but is quite easy to attend to. The actual preparation time is minimal, and the end result is so worth it. For this recipe, use kimchi made with napa cabbage. And for the lettuce wraps, try iceberg, romaine or Chinese leaf lettuce (a thin, leafy lettuce available in Chinese grocery stores). Refrigerate the lettuce until meal time.
3½ oz coarse salt
1 cup white sugar
1 bone-in pork shoulder, 4 to 5 lbs
1 cup brown sugar
2 green onions, white and green parts, in 1⁄8-inch dice
4 oz ginger, peeled, in 1⁄8-inch dice
2 cups napa cabbage kimchi
5 oz roasted peanuts, crushed
3⁄8 cup soy sauce
¼ to ½ cup vinegar-based chili sauce (optional)
2 heads lettuce, rinsed, drained, separated and cut in palm-size pieces
½ cup cooked long-grain white rice
IN A BOWL, combine salt and white sugar. Using your fingers, rub this cure mixture evenly onto pork. Place pork in a large bowl or container, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours.
Uncover pork and discard any liquid. Rinse pork under cold running water to remove excess cure mixture.
Preheat the oven to 275°F and place pork, fat cap up, in a roasting pan. Add 2 cups water and cover with aluminum foil. Roast for 7 hours.
Remove and discard the foil and sprinkle pork with brown sugar. Return pork to the oven and roast for 1 more hour, basting every 15 minutes.
Remove pork from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Pour off any liquid. Transfer pork to a large plate and, using two spoons, shred the meat. Place pulled pork in a bowl and set aside.
In a small sauce bowl, combine green onions and ginger. Place kimchi in a medium serving bowl and, using scissors, cut it into small pieces. Pour peanuts, soy sauce and chili sauce into 3 separate serving bowls. Arrange pulled pork and lettuce leaves in 2 separate piles on a large serving platter. Mound rice in a serving bowl. Set the bowls of rice and condiments around the platter. Pass around individual plates and encourage guests to serve themselves by placing a leaf of lettuce flat on the plate, mounding 2 to 3 Tbsp pulled pork on top and dressing it with condiments as desired. Fold the bottom of the leaf over the filling, then tuck in the sides like an envelope. Fold the top of the leaf over the filling and enjoy.
Refrigerate any leftover pork, rice, condiments and lettuce leaves separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days.
Korean-Style BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps