Recipe - My Mothers Lettuce Packages

1 Lettuce head
4 cup Corn oil
1/3 cup Walnut pieces
1 ounce Bean thread noodles
1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
12 ounce Pork, ground
2 Green onions
1 cn Smoked clams
1 cn Water chestnuts (small)
1 cup Lettuce, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
One fourth teaspoon Cayenne pepper
2 tablespoon Oyster sauce
1 teaspoon Sherry
One fourth teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Sesame oil
2 teaspoon Cornstarch, mixed with
1 tablespoon Water

Cut green onions into peasized pieces. Drain and chop coarsely the smoked
clams and water chestnuts. Detach lettuce leaves from core, wash and dry
them gently. Arrange lettuce leaves around the edge of a large platter.

Heat oil in wok until it is about to smoke. Tear bean thread noodles apart
and cut with scissors into small portions. Carefully put a portion of the
noodles into the hot oil. (They will expand dramatically!) As soon as they
expand, turn them over and cook the other side briefly. Drain them and
remove to a bowl lined with several layers of paper towels. Cook the
remaining noodles in the same way. Drain them very well with paper towels
and then crunch them and put them into the center of the serving platter,
surrounded by the lettuce leaves.

Put the walnuts into a strainer and immerse them into the hot oil. They
will brown very quickly. Be careful they do not burn. Remove them to a
paper towel, drain well and chop into coarse pieces.

Remove all but 2 T of oil from the wok. Saute the minced garlic and
chopped green onions until lightly browned. Add the ground pork and saute
until it loses its pink color and starts to brown. Use a large spoon to
remove as much grease as possible from the pork mixture.

Add the chopped smoked clams, chopped water chestnuts and chopped lettuce
to the pork mixture. Mix well.

Combine the soy sauce, cayenne, oyster sauce, sherry, sugar and sesame oil;
stir into the cooking mixture and cook for two minutes, stirring
constantly. Remix the cornstarch and water and add to the middle of the
wok. Stir constantly, blending other ingredients into cornstarch mixture
and simmer three more minutes.

Pour the cooked dish on top of the bean thread needles on the serving
platter. Sprinkle the walnut pieces on top and serve at once. To eat:
Place a lettuce leaf on your plate. Put a spoonful of the pork mixture and
noodles in the middle of the leaf. Fold the leaf up and eat the package
like a bared. Serves 12 as part of a family style Chinese dinner, 4 as a
main dish.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini