Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps

This recipe uses the sous vide technique to create tender roasted pork that is finished under the broiler for a great texture and flavor boost. Serving it as lettuce wraps gives you a meal that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates, making it calorie efficient, which is great if you're watching your carb and/or calorie intake.



If you don't have a sous vide water circulator, there is a version of the pork that can be made in the slow cooker. See Karen Wise's blog: verbatim, where she details making something much like this, but in the slow-cooker. The lettuce wrap is my take on this same basic idea.


  • 2 1/2 teaspoons of Chinese five-spice powder
  • 3 1/2 lb pork butt
  • 3 Tbs soy sauce
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • a few slices of fresh ginger root
  • 1 Tbsp minced ginger
  • 2 Tbsp minced garlic
  • peanut or canola oil
  • 2 Tbsp dry sherry
  • 3 Tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1 scallion, sliced
  • a few leaves of iceberg lettuce


Seal the pork in a vacuum bag with the five spice, the soy, slices of ginger, and the fish sauce.

Place in the sous vide bath for 24 hours at 165 degrees F.

When cooking is complete, take the bag out of the sous vide bath. At this point you can refrigerate the pork for a few days, if you're making this in advances. It keeps fine inside the vacuum sealed bag. Before putting it in the fridge, though, drop the temperature as quickly as you can with cold water and an ice bath if available.

When getting ready to serve, but before removing the pork from the bag, saute the minced garlic and ginger in a little oil, being careful not to burn. Just let them get slightly aromatic, removing any harshness from the garlic. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and then deglaze the pan with some sherry, placing the resulting liquid into that bowl as well.

Heat your broiler.

Remove the pork from the bag and shred with forks, only keeping as much fat as you like, depending on your preferences.

Mix the garlic/ginger into the pork, as well as the hoisin sauce, and honey. Adjust the flavors with salt and pepper, and possibly soy or additional fish sauce.

Spread the pork on a sheet pan and place under the broiler until the meat gains some browned spots, depending on your preference.

Your pork is ready! Place 4 ounces in one or more lettuce leaves to serve.


Four ounces of pork cooked this way should have fewer than 280 calories. Add two ounces of slaw in there and you're right at about 300 calories.


Slaw with Sesame and Soy

¼ cup rice vinegar (or other mild vinegar)

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 package of fresh supermarket shredded slaw mix

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

salt and pepper

Mix together vinegar, honey, sesame oil, and soy. Add the slaw mix and sesame seeds. Toss until combined; season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator and serve cold.