Yuk sung is a Chinese recipe of fried mince flavoured with ginger, garlic and soy sauce and served in easy-to-eat lettuce wraps.
The addition of spicy Spanish chorizo makes these little bites even more moreish. You could line the lettuce leaves with some cold, cooked noodles instead of the crispy rice if you prefer.
Recipe by Stuart Collins
INGREDIENTS
Chorizo yuk sung
200g Spanish chorizo with the Consortium seal, picante (spicy) or regular, finely diced
300g pork mince
75g carrots, peeled and finely diced
(brunoise)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
20g fresh ginger, finely sliced into
matchsticks
200g button mushrooms, finely sliced
35g light soy sauce
25g honey
10g corn starch, mixed with 40g water
75g spring onions, finely sliced
To serve
50g wild rice
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
salt
2 little gem lettuces, separated into
20 leaves and washed
1/2 red chilli, finely sliced
METHOD
1 For the wild rice, heat up a small pan of oil to around 200°C. Add the rice and wait until it puffs up
and turns slightly golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove the rice, drain on kitchen paper and lightly
season with salt.
2 Place a frying pan over a medium heat and add the diced Spanish chorizo. Cook until the fat has
rendered out and the chorizo is nicely golden, then remove the chorizo from the pan leaving the
bright orange oil behind (reserve the cooked chorizo).
3 Add the pork mince to the pan and cook for a few minutes in the chorizo oil until almost cooked.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the mince from the pan and set it aside with the chorizo. Again, try to
leave as much of the chorizo oil in the pan as possible.
4 Return the pan with the oil to the heat and add the diced carrot. Sweat for a couple of minutes,
then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for another 2 minutes then add the mushrooms.
5 Once the mushrooms have softened, add the chorizo and pork mince back into the pan and
turn up the heat. Add the light soy sauce with the honey and bring to the boil, then add the
cornstarch-water mixture and cook out for a minute until the sauce has thickened slightly.
6 Remove from the heat and stir the spring onions through the mixture (reserving a small handful
for garnish).
7 Lay out the little gem leaves onto serving plates and add a spoonful of the crispy puffed rice onto
each, followed by a spoonful of the mince mixture.
Top with the sliced chillies, more spring onion and a final sprinkle of the puffed rice and serve
immediately.
See the recipe on Spanish Chorizo Consortium’s website: