Lettuce Wraps With Vietnamese Style Prawns Recipe

These Vietnamese style lettuce wraps make a perfect light and fresh snack or starter. We've marinated our king prawns in a punchy mix of rice vinegar, Thai fish sauce, sweet chilli and lime, with fresh chilli and coriander, making each bite burst with flavour. The sweet mango and salty, crunchy peanuts make the flavours and textures in this dish balance perfectly.

Using lettuce leaves instead of traditional tortilla wraps or rice paper rolls reduces the calorie count of these wraps as well as giving extra crunch and freshness. Prawns are a great low fat and low calorie source of protein and also provide omega-3 fatty acids, an essential acid that our bodies do not naturally produce. Using rice noodles provides a source of carbohydrates that gives you energy and makes these prawn wraps more substantial than a salad, but keeps them gluten free.

Try serving these Vietnamese style lettuce wraps as a light summer starter or as an interesting barbecue side dish. They are fresh and summery with vibrant flavours that will impress all your friends and family. Once you've got the Asian ingredients needed for the dressing, you can use them to explore many other Asian recipes such as our Thai Chicken Salad with Peanuts and Ginger and our Vietnamese Pork Balls.

HOW TO MAKE LETTUCE WRAPS

Ingredients

• 450g cooked king prawns
• 2 nests of rice vermicelli noodles
• 3 baby gem lettuces
• 1 mango, cut into cubes
• 6 spring onions, finely chopped
• 3tbsp chopped roasted peanuts
• mint sprigs

for the dressing

• 2tbsp rice vinegar
• 1tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 1tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 small red chilli, chopped
• 2tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Method

1. Mix together all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Add the prawns and mix well. Cover and leave in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the recipe. They will happily sit overnight.
2. Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions, then refresh under cold water. To assemble the wraps, split out the lettuce leaves and put on a serving plate. Now add some noodles, the mango, spring onions, prawns and peanuts and top with mint.