Pork Lettuce Wraps

Simple and tasty, these Pork Lettuce Wraps are super flavorful. All you need is good lettuce, noodles, crispy roast pork, and a very special sauce. It's great for everything from a simple solo meal to a group meal (we love making this for a fun assemble-it-yourself dinner party!)

Fun, fresh, and simple! What's not to love?

We use good local lettuce, rice noodles, crisp roast pork, and a few bonus veggies. Wrap and dip in the sauce. Eat, enjoy, and repeat!

This is a super flexible recipe. Use more of the ingredients you like and leave out the ones you don't. Feel free to double or even triple the recipe.

Here's how to assemble roast pork lettuce wraps at home ^_^

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need:

Fresh lettuce
Good lettuce is the key and so important to this recipe! The lettuce is the wrapper, it is the single ingredient that holds everything together. I like the lettuce from Sensei Farms (more about them in the section below). It's tasty but also beautiful, and you can find it at most supermarkets here.

Roast pork
One day I'll work on a roast pork recipe, but until that day, we buy our roast pork. There are many great roast pork spots in Hawaii. Every family has their favorite spot and ours is Asian Mix on Beretania Street (in the same complex as Safeway). Call ahead to place your order because they often sell out by early afternoon. They open at 10:30am, so I call within the first hour of opening.

Dried rice noodles
There are numerous dried rice noodle brands, so just use that brand that you can find most easily. We like the "Three Ladies" brand and you can find it at Asian markets and in many of the small shops in Honolulu Chinatown. The rice noodles have different thickness levels and we use the medium thickness for this recipe (though you can use any thickness that's available, don't stress about that part).

Bean sprouts
I love bean sprouts and use them in many, many, many, many recipes. There is always a bag or two of beansprouts in our refrigerator! In Hawaii, bean sprouts are often sold in 10 ounce bags. I use about half a bag for this recipe.

Cucumber
Use any kind of cucumbers though I like Japanese cucumbers for this recipe. Why? Because it's seedless, never bitter, and the cucumber skin is thinner. But mainly, Japanese cucumbers are just really delicious.

Nuoc cham / nuoc mam (Vietnamese dipping sauce)
The dip/sauce is essential to this dish. You cannot skip this part. This is our tried and true recipe for nuoc cham / nuoc mam (I've seen it spelled both ways, I think both are "right"). My mom has been making nuoc cham since we were little kids and it is so good! It's a fish sauce-based Vietnamese dipping sauce, and you've probably enjoyed it at Vietnamese restaurants in the past. Now you can make it at home. Make a big batch, it keeps well in the refrigerator.

Sensei Farms

The lettuce we used in this recipe is from Sensei Farms. I bought the above package from Foodland, but you can find them at many supermarkets here (I've seen the lettuce at Whole Foods, Safeway, etc).

They grow different types of lettuce. I used "crisp leaf lettuce" for this dish, but you can use any lettuce with big leaves (butter leaf lettuce and romaine lettuce also work well). The bigger the lettuce leaf, the better. Why? Because it will be easier to form the wraps.

I first learned of Sensei Farms during our staycation in Lanai. We walked to Richards Market in Lanai City where I saw a lot of their produce. I was unfamiliar with the farm at the time and actually took a bunch of photos of the lettuce. You can see one of the photos below...

...this is the old packaging from 2023. I took the above photo because I wanted to find the same lettuce back on Oahu.

Fast forward to 2024, and their lettuce (plus tomatoes) are at many markets! They grew a lot in the last year and upgraded packaging to use less plastic.

We finished all the lettuce in one sitting, but if you only need a little bit of lettuce, one cool thing about this packaging is that you can reseal it! Yes.

I thought that was very neat ^_^

Instructions

Let's get cooking!

Prepare the individual ingredients:
Lettuce - Wash and dry the lettuce. Place in a colander.

Dried Rice Noodles - Follow the cooking directions on the package because each brand has different recommended cooking times. Place the cooked and drained noodles in a bowl.

Bean sprouts - Wash and dry. If you have time, I like to pick off the straggly tails. It's nice to do but not super necessary. Place in a bowl.

Cucumber - Wash, peel (optional), and thinly slice the cucumber. I like to peel in alternating strips so that the cucumber is half-peeled. Best of both worlds! Arrange the sliced cucumber on a plate.

Roast pork - Roast pork can be served at room temperature. But if you want it super ono, can heat the roast pork in the toaster oven to make the skin extra crisp and hot. Then remove and place on a plate.

Nuoc cham / nuoc mam (Vietnamese dipping sauce) - Divide the sauce between two small bowls.

Arrange.
Once the individual ingredients are prepared, place everything in the center of a table. Give each person a plate - this will be the plate they use to assemble the wraps and eat.

Assemble.
Plate a whole lettuce piece on the plate. Top with some rice noodles, followed by some bean sprouts and a couple slices of cucumber. Put a piece of roast pork on top (make sure every piece gets some crispy skin!)

Then gently wrap the lettuce around everything. Pick it up with one hand and dip into the bowl of nuoc cham. If you're worried about everything falling out of the lettuce, you can also use a small spoon and spoon some nuoc cham on top.

Eat and enjoy, then repeat!

Top Tip

No roast pork near you? And don't want to make roast pork at home? That's ok! This is best with roast pork but you can easily substitute it with any other type of meat or fried tofu, which I've done when a vegetarian friend came for lunch.

And it doesn't have to be crispy. You can also go saucy, like pulled pork or braised beef. In a pinch, I've pan fried sausage patties and cut them into smaller piece for the wrap. We've also used roast duck...this might be the one option more tasty than roast pork heh.

FAQ

Pork Lettuce Wraps Recipe