Recipe: Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups with Pineapple Nuoc Cham

Mar 3, 2004

Makes about 8 to 12 appetizer servings

Pineapple Nuoc Cham:

- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or other Asian chili paste
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- ½ cup chopped fresh ripe pineapple

Chicken filling:

- 1 tablespoon canola or other vegetable oil
- 1 pound ground chicken meat (you can also use ground white turkey meat)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
- 1 tablespoon very finely minced fresh lemongrass
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Garnishes:

- ½ cup bean sprouts
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 small bunch Thai basil
- 1 small bunch fresh mint
- Leaves from 1 large head butter lettuce, rinsed and spun dry, or a combination of butter lettuce and iceberg lettuce leaves
- Fresh lime wedges
- ½ English cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced on a bias
- ½ cup coarsely chopped, dry roasted, salted, peanuts

1. Make the Pineapple Nuoc Cham first. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the pineapple is well-chopped but not pureed. Set aside, or cover and refrigerate if making ahead. (You can make this up to 2 days in advance.)

2. To make the chicken mixture: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil and heat until hot, then add the chicken and cook, crumbling with a spoon, until almost done. Stir in the garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Cook for about 1 minute more — do not brown garlic. Add the green onion, lime juice, salt and fish sauce. Stir to incorporate.

3. To serve: Place Pineapple Nuoc Cham in a small bowl with a spoon, and place chicken in a medium bowl with a spoon. Rinse, dry and pick over bean sprouts and fresh herbs, and arrange the sprouts and nice whole herb sprigs in neat, separate piles on a large serving platter. Place the lettuce leaves in a separate pile on the platter, then garnish with lime wedges. Tuck in small bowls of cucumber and peanuts.

4. How to enjoy: Instruct your guests to take a lettuce leaf and mound it with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of chicken mixture. Garnish with cucumber slices, bean sprouts, herbs and peanuts. Drizzle with Pineapple Nuoc Cham and season with additional squeezes of lime if desired.