May 19
2010

Soba Noodle & Vegetable Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin & Chili Sauce Recipe

Soba Noodle & Vegetable Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin Chili Sauce Recipe

I am a wrapper and am not ashamed to admit it. No, not a rapper. Definitely not a rapper. In fact, if I ever try to rap or beatbox in public or anywhere else, feel free to tackle me to the ground and drag me away before my inner hip hop diva takes over. The kind of wrapping I can do without embarrassing my children (although that is one of the little unspoken joys of parenthood) involves lettuce, tortillas, pitas, and gyoza wrappers. The seemingly limitless options range from tofu to flank steak, rice noodles to salad, and tzatziki to tandoori. Each culture has its own take on the wrap, using a variety of edible packages and fillings. Mexico has the burrito, Greece has the gyro, Korea has the spring roll…you get the point.

The intention was to fill these lettuce leaves with soba noodles, vegetables and a hoisin chili garlic sauce. The sauce was made and the vegetables were prepped when I discovered that the soba noodles had disappeared (into my stomach a few days ago). Whole wheat spaghetti noodles were a good stand-in, but I recommend soba if you have them. This healthy dish, made with minimal oil but plenty of flavor, works well as an appetizer. Add some grilled or sauteed shrimp, chicken, flank steak, or tofu and you will have a meal fit for any wrapper…or rapper.

Sauce:
Whisk together 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon mirin, 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger, and 1 tsp chili garlic sauce.


Noodles:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 8 ounces soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti. If using spaghetti, break the noodles in half before adding to the water. Cook according to package directions. Drain the noodles and rinse well with cold water. Drain again.

Heat 1 teaspoon canola oil in a large skillet set over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh ginger. Saute for 1 minute. Add 1 clove garlic, sliced, and saute for additional 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove the ginger and garlic from the oil and discard.

To the oil, add 4 ounces snow peas, trimmed and cut in half; 3/4 red bell pepper, cut into thin slices and in half; and 2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks.


Saute for 1 minute, or until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Add the vegetables and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds to the noodles, pour in the sauce, and toss gently to coat.


Separate and wash the leaves of one head of Boston leaf lettuce. Serve with the noodle mixture with the lettuce leaves so that each diner can fill and roll the lettuce leaves. Eat with your hands.


Other lettuce wrap recipes:

Rasa Malaysia’s Lettuce-Wrapped Chicken
Kalyn’s Kitchen Asian Lettuce Cups (or Wraps) with Spicy Ground Turkey Filling
Viet World Kitchen’s Grilled Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps
Under the Highchair’s Sesame Beef Lettuce Wraps

Soba Noodle & Vegetable Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin & Chili Sauce

Sauce:
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Noodles:
8 oz. soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
1 tsp canola oil
1 tbsp peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, sliced
4 oz. snap peas, trimmed and cut in half
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
3/4 red bell pepper, thinly sliced and cut in half
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1 head Boston leaf lettuce, leaves separated and washed

Sauce:
Whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, hoisin sauce, honey, ginger, and chili garlic sauce.

Noodles:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti. If using spaghetti, break the noodles in half before adding to the water. Cook according to package directions. Drain the noodles and rinse well with cold water. Drain again.

Heat canola oil in a large skillet set over high heat. Add fresh ginger. Saute for 1 minute. Add garlic, sliced, and saute for additional 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove the ginger and garlic from the oil and discard.

To the oil, add snow peas, red bell pepper, and carrots. Saute for 1 minute, or until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Add the vegetables and toasted sesame seeds to the noodles, pour in the sauce, and toss gently to coat.

Separate and wash the leaves of one head of Boston leaf lettuce. Serve with the noodle mixture with the lettuce leaves so that each diner can fill and roll the lettuce leaves. Eat with your hands.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Printable recipe


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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Jenn May 19, 2010 at 7:23 am

Yum!! I love that you turned a noodle dish into wraps. Sort of reminds me when I stuff spaghetti into a dinner roll and eat is a sandwich. i know totally weird. But I like this a lot.

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2 MaryMoh May 19, 2010 at 9:23 am

Lovely dish. My family loves soba noodles. It's a healthier noodle. We love it simple with some sauce and vegetables too.

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3 LollyChops May 19, 2010 at 12:32 pm

What an awesome idea for a noodle dish!

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4 Maria May 19, 2010 at 1:27 pm

This is my kind of meal. I love soba noodles. How fun you included them in a lettuce wrap!

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5 pegasuslegend May 19, 2010 at 1:36 pm

very tastey looking bet this was awesome noodles sound full of great flavor

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6 Emily Malloy (Ziegler) May 19, 2010 at 2:43 pm

Yummmmmm.. I love the combination of all of the flavors! I could eat a pound and a half of these!

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7 Drick May 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm

whew…so glad you are not a rapper….hey, that is a great sauce, gonna use it on something else if you don't mind…great wrap too…

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8 lululu May 19, 2010 at 3:12 pm

I cannot imagine myself being a rapper neither. Wrapper is so more easily to handle! haha!
As far as I love soba, I've never thought about putting it in a lettuce wrap! Wonderful dish!

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9 Megan Carroll May 19, 2010 at 4:19 pm

going to try these with my tots- they love novelty and eating out of a lettuce wrap will be just that!

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10 Brad Watson-Davelaar May 19, 2010 at 4:25 pm

I am so going to give this a try :)

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11 Tracy May 19, 2010 at 4:30 pm

One of my friends always orders lettuce wraps and I've been wanting to give them a try. These look great!

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12 Miranda May 19, 2010 at 5:00 pm

mmmh…healthy and yummy.
I love lettuce wraps! :)

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13 roxan May 19, 2010 at 6:19 pm

This looks great for a quick weeknight meal, thanks!

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14 Girl Foodie May 19, 2010 at 8:15 pm

How clever! I love the combination of contrasting textures. The crunchy peas, silky noodles and soft lettuce etc. Love it!

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15 Kalyn May 19, 2010 at 8:30 pm

Oh yum, that sounds so tasty. I'm not sure if soba noodles are South Beach friendly, but I could use whole wheat spaghetti.

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16 Belinda @zomppa May 19, 2010 at 11:51 pm

Superb! Great for spring meals.

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17 Susan-CookingtoSave May 20, 2010 at 12:10 am

This looks so good! We were just talking on the way home tonight and the kids remarked that we haven't had an asian themed dinner in a while. I think you've given me a meal for this week!

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18 Kristi@Ja Cie Kocham May 20, 2010 at 12:25 am

I found soba noodles not too long ago and I LOVE THEM.

What beautiful pictures! You're making me hungry, and I just had dinner!

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19 Tickled Red May 20, 2010 at 12:25 am

I love the noodles in the wraps :) Although Hoisin is new to me this looks delicious.

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20 Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) May 20, 2010 at 1:17 am

I love Asian sauces like this, and I have all of the condiments (and soba noodles) in my pantry at all times. Lovely and tempting photos, too!

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21 wannafoodie May 20, 2010 at 2:15 am

Awesome! Can't wait to give it a try…

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22 Maggy @ ThreeManyCooks May 20, 2010 at 2:51 am

My mom makes a delicious lettuce wrap, but these definitely look like they could rival hers! I'll be trying these one night for dinner.

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23 Lauren May 20, 2010 at 3:05 pm

I Love your blog! I stumbled across it last week and want to make everything! Thank you for sharing j

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24 lisaiscooking May 20, 2010 at 3:29 pm

I'm a lettuce wrapper too, and the chili sauce with the noodles sounds great! I have to try this.

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25 Angie's Recipes May 20, 2010 at 5:07 pm

Really love the idea of using lettuce leaf to serve the noodles. Looks very healthy too.

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26 Fuji Mama May 20, 2010 at 5:47 pm

I have a huge weak spot for soba noodles. I mean SERIOUSLY. Um, next time you make these, I'm coming over.

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27 Barbara @moderncomfortfood May 20, 2010 at 9:17 pm

I love love love soba noodles, which are hard to find here in Florida, so when my local grocery had a supply recently I bought out the lot. I've never made lettuce wraps, and this looks like a delicious way to serve soba in summer. Thanks for sharing this interesting recipe.

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28 Gera @ SweetsFoodsBlog May 20, 2010 at 10:02 pm

So comforting noodles – great with the chili sauce!

Cheers,

Gera

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29 sweetlife May 21, 2010 at 2:53 am

omg wouldn't moms make the worst rappers..haha love your wraps with noodles, even better

sweetlife

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30 ivoryhut May 21, 2010 at 3:57 am

What an awesome vegetarian dish! I can already imagine the combination of flavors in this. The hoisin, mirin, soy, ginger, sesame oil … delicious!

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31 Megan May 21, 2010 at 3:40 pm

These look fantastic! A perfect meal.

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32 Michelle @ Brown Eyed Baker May 24, 2010 at 3:34 pm

This looks fabulous! I really need to start making more of my favorite Asian dishes at home!

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33 marla {family fresh cooking} June 8, 2010 at 12:35 pm

What a fresh & great meal idea for the summer. Love the idea of pasta in lettuce wraps :)

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