Sluttishly Savory: Thai Pork Lettuce Cups

After my rollatini shaped calorific blowout last week I thought I'd share something slightly more health conscious with you this week.

This Thai style recipe uses pork mince, which tends to be much lower in calories and fat than beef mince, making it a nice healthy option. If you are feeling super virtuous, you can even substitute low fat pork mince.

The additional bonus to this dish is that it is really quick and easy to make. The mince itself can be whipped up in about fifteen minutes while you are waiting for your sushi rice to cook. Just perfect when you arrive home after a long, hard day and want something really tasty, really fast.

Thai Pork Lettuce Cups

Makes about 10 generous cups

You will need:

• 5cm piece root ginger, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 - 2 red chillies, thinly sliced
• 500g pork mince
• 3 tablespoons soft light brown sugar
• Juice of one lime
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 carrot, grated
• Portion of cooked sushi rice
• Little Gem Lettuce

Make it:

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan and add the grated ginger, crushed garlic and thinly sliced chilli. Cook for a minute of two over a low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.

2. Add the minced pork, turn up the heat and cook until the pork is golden brown.

3. Reduce to a medium heat and add the sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. Give it a good stir to coat the mince. Add the grated carrot and cook until the liquid is reduced and sticky.

4. Assemble your lettuce cups by taking a piece of lettuce, adding a scoop of sushi rice and a nice big spoonful of the pork mince. Then get stuck in, forget about using cutlery this is finger food at its very best!