Vegan Tofu Lettuce Wraps
These vegan tofu lettuce wraps are as flavorful as they are fun to eat. I love being able to tuck in more vegetables that add striking color and make it even more delicious. Layers are the key to flavor here with a vegetable base, topped with tofu and drenched in a spicy sweet and tangy sauce the combination is perfect.
On days I don’t have time to dig in with both hands, this is easy to convert to a salad you can eat with utensils and keep those fingers clean. Occasionally I’ll also add in some vermicelli rice noodles to the base of the salad version. The noodles are great at soaking up all of that delicious sauce.
Both the grated carrot and daikon add color to the lettuce wraps and a nice contrast of flavor. If you aren’t familiar with daikon it has a mild radish flavor. If you can’t find daikon or prefer not to use it, just double up on the grated carrot.
The butter lettuce is both a perfect shape to hold the wrap and looks pretty on a serving dish. However, if you can’t find these, look for any lettuce that has a nice wide leaf that can be used to hold the filling and sauce. Depending on the size you may be able to stack the leaves on top of each other and cut them in half to make them more manageable to fill and eat individual wraps.
Vegan Tofu Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 inch ginger
- 4 green onions
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 cup cabbage (red or green)
- 2 lbs firm tofu
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 head butter lettuce
- 1 cup carrot, grated (double if you can't find daikon)
- 1 cup daikon, grated
- 4 heads butter leaf lettuce (40 leaves) (or large leaf lettuce)
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1-2 tsp Sriracha
Instructions
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To make the sauce I like to add the ingredients to a pint sized mason jar but a small bowl works as well. Add the 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar, 4 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp fish sauce and either 1 or 2 tsp of Sriracha depending on how spicy you like it. If you're using the mason jar just put the lid on and shake it up and set aside. If you have a squirt bottle to serve this in, it makes adding it to each lettuce wrap a snap, otherwise spooning it over the wraps works great.
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Grate the daikon and carrot separately and set aside. Wash lettuce and separate leaves and set aside.
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To prepare the tofu and vegetable filling a food processor makes it quick and easy but this can also be made by hand, it just takes a little more time.
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If using a food processor: Add the ingredients in stages so there's a bit of texture to each. You don't want to end up with a paste or puree. First add the 1 inch of fresh ginger, 4 green onions, 1/2 cup cilantro and pulse a few times to break the ginger and onions down into a smaller size, about 1/4 inch pieces. Then add the cabbage and pulse a few times until the cabbage roughly the size of peas. Add the tofu, 2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp cornstarch and can of sliced water chestnuts and pulse until combined.
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If you are preparing the ingredients by hand: grate the ginger, finely dice the green onions, cilantro, cabbage and water chestnuts and add to a large bowl. Add the salt, cornstarch and tofu. Mix all ingredients together breaking up the tofu as you mix it in so it's closer to the texture you'd get if using a food processor.
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Heat a nonstick skillet on high and add 2 tbsp of oil, then add half of the tofu mixture. It's hard to burn tofu so if you let it set until a good crust is formed, then stir, you'll get clumps of golden crusted tofu filling. Set aside and repeat this with the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and remaining tofu and vegetable mixture.
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Serve tofu vegetable mixture with grated carrot, daikon and sauce. To make each wrap grab a lettuce leaf, add a pinch of the carrot and daikon. Add a spoonful of the tofu vegetable mixture and top with a little of the sauce. For an extra spicy kick and color add a little more Sriracha and enjoy.