Name: Firecracker Vegetable Tempura Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Total time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: JAPANESE
Ingredients: 6 to 8 pieces vegetable tempura; 2 teaspoons tempura sauce or soy sauce; 1 teaspoon rice vinegar; 1 habanero or other hot fruity-flavored chile, seeded and minced; 2 teaspoons everyday extra-virgin olive oil; 1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced; 12 small butter or red lettuce leaves; 2 tablespoons roasted and salted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds); 4 Japanese rice crackers, crumbled

Print RecipePrint Recipe

By Genevieve Ko

Aug. 6, 2019

The best lettuce wraps cradle something hot and fatty. Case in point: tempura. Of course, you can make your own tempura, but my move is to pick up a box from a Japanese supermarket or sushi joint (or order extra online when getting Japanese food delivered) and throw together this dish in minutes.

Read More Read Less

6 to 8 pieces vegetable tempura

2 teaspoons tempura sauce or soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1 habanero or other hot fruity-flavored chile, seeded and minced

2 teaspoons everyday extra-virgin olive oil

1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced

12 small butter or red lettuce leaves

2 tablespoons roasted and salted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

4 Japanese rice crackers, crumbled

If the tempura is fresh, set the pieces in a single layer on a wire rack to keep them crisp. If the tempura has been refrigerated, reheat in a toaster oven or an oven set to 400 degrees until crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Cut into 1-inch-wide strips, if needed.

Meanwhile, whisk the tempura sauce, vinegar, chile and oil until well mixed.

Divide the tempura and avocado slices among the lettuce leaves. Drizzle the sauce all over, then top with the pepitas and rice crackers. Serve immediately.

Variations:

Shrimp Tempura and Avocado Lettuce Wraps: Substitute 6 shrimp tempura for the vegetable tempura, cutting off the tails and slicing each piece crosswise in half.

Genevieve Ko

Genevieve Ko is the former cooking editor for the Los Angeles Times. She is a cookbook author and has been a food writer, editor and recipe developer for national food media outlets. Ko graduated from Yale after a childhood in Monterey Park.