TVP · Fusion
Crunchy Dumpling Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
TVP & filling
- Dry TVP (granules/chunks)150g
- Hot water2 cups
- Neutral oil2 tbsp
- Celery, sliced thin diagonal2 stalks
- Green cabbage, shredded~4 cups
- Red bell pepper, julienned1 medium
- Carrot, julienned (toddler only)1 small
Shared seasonings
- Reduced-sodium soy sauce6½ tbsp
- Fresh ginger3 tbsp + 1 tsp
- Hing¾ tsp
- Sugar1¼ tsp
- Light brown sugar or jaggery4 tbsp
- Salt1 tsp
Jain gochujang & chili crisp
- Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)5 tbsp
- White miso paste2 tbsp
- Rice vinegar1 tbsp
- Warm water3 tbsp
- Neutral oil (peanut or canola)⅓ cup
- Sesame seeds3 tbsp
- Roasted peanuts, crushed2 tbsp
Sauce
- Water6 tbsp
- Toasted sesame oil2 tbsp
- Cornstarch1 tbsp
- Jain gochujang (from above)2 tbsp
- Ghee (toddler)½ tsp
Strips & assembly
- Eggless dumpling wrappers14
- Neutral oil, for the strips1 tbsp
- White pepper¼ tsp
- Butter lettuce2 heads
- Celery leaves or coriander¼ cup
- Jain chili crisp (from above)to taste
Method
1 Soak the TVP, make the gochujang and chili crisp
- Stir hot water (2 cups), soy sauce (1½ tbsp), grated ginger (1 tsp), hing (¼ tsp) and sugar (½ tsp) together in a large bowl; add TVP (150g), stir well, cover and set aside 15–20 min — it returns in Step 3 with all its liquid
- Gochujang: in a small bowl, whisk gochugaru (3 tbsp) (or 2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder + 1 tbsp regular chili powder), white miso (2 tbsp), brown sugar (2 tbsp), rice vinegar (1 tbsp) and salt (¼ tsp)
- Add warm water (3 tbsp) a spoonful at a time, whisking, until a thick glossy paste falls slowly off the spoon; rest 10 min in the bowl — makes about ⅔ cup, you need 2 tbsp today and the rest keeps a month refrigerated
- Chili crisp: put gochugaru (2 tbsp), sesame seeds (1 tbsp), crushed peanuts (2 tbsp), hing (¼ tsp), sugar (½ tsp) and salt (½ tsp) into a heatproof bowl
- Heat neutral oil (⅓ cup) with julienned ginger (1 tbsp) in a small pan over medium heat, 4–5 min, until the ginger is pale gold and the bubbling slows
- Off the heat, wait 30 sec, then pour the hot contents of the pan over the bowl — it sizzles hard; stir and cool completely (it goes on at serving)
2 Mix the sauce, prep, crisp the strips
- Whisk soy sauce (5 tbsp), water (6 tbsp), toasted sesame oil (2 tbsp), brown sugar (2 tbsp) and cornstarch (1 tbsp) in a bowl until completely smooth
- Scoop (3 tbsp) of this plain sauce into a small bowl and set it aside for the toddler; then stir Jain gochujang (2 tbsp) into the big bowl
- Slice celery (2 stalks) thin on a sharp diagonal — long shards, not chunks; shred cabbage (~4 cups), julienne red bell pepper (1 medium), grate ginger (2 tbsp)
- Julienne carrot (1 small) for the toddler; microwave covered with a splash of water, 2 min, until just tender; drain
- Stack dumpling wrappers (14) and cut into strips about ½ cm wide; separate, wash and thoroughly dry butter lettuce (2 heads) into cups — wet leaves make the filling slide out
- Toss the strips with oil (1 tbsp) until barely slicked; air-fry in a single layer in the Ninja Crispi at 330°F for 4–6 min, shaking at 3 min — pull them while still pale gold
- Set a small handful of plain strips aside for the toddler, salted very lightly; toss the rest with white pepper (¼ tsp), sugar (¼ tsp) and salt (¼ tsp) while still warm
3 Cook the filling
- Heat neutral oil (2 tbsp) in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat
- Add hing (¼ tsp) and swirl for 10 seconds until it smells savory and nutty — don't let it brown
- Add celery (2 stalks) and grated ginger (2 tbsp); cook 2 minutes — the celery should stay squeaky, not go soft
- Add cabbage (~4 cups) and red bell pepper (1 medium); cook 5–7 minutes until the cabbage wilts and the pepper just softens
- Add the soaked TVP (150g) from Step 1 with all its remaining liquid; cook 2 minutes. Stop here — nothing spicy has gone in yet.
👶 Toddler — pull her filling now, before the gochujang sauce
- Scoop about 1 cup of the filling out of the pan into a small saucepan
- Add her softened carrot (1 small) and the plain reserved sauce (3 tbsp)
- Simmer 2 minutes, stirring, until it thickens and coats everything; finish off the heat with ghee (½ tsp)
- Serve with her plain salted strips, and torn butter lettuce or a small bowl of rice
- Hing and ginger are fine for her — she's only missing the gochujang and the chili crisp
4 Finish and assemble
- Pour the big bowl of spiced sauce from Step 2 over what's left in the pan; cook 5–7 minutes, stirring, until glossy and thick enough to sit in a lettuce leaf
- Taste before adding salt — there's soy in both the soak and the sauce; it should be sweet-salty first, heat second
- Spoon the filling into the lettuce cups
- Top each with the seasoned strips, toasted sesame seeds (2 tbsp) and chopped celery leaves (¼ cup)
- Finish with Jain chili crisp (to taste); add the strips at the table — they go soft within minutes of touching the sauce
Notes What changed from the original: onion → celery, sliced thin, plus hing bloomed in the oil. Garlic → hing. Green onion → celery leaves or coriander. Carrot → red bell pepper for adults (real carrot stays only in the toddler's portion). Bouillon cube → soy sauce + ginger + hing in the soaking water — cubes are rarely Jain. Gochujang and chili crisp are made from scratch because most jarred brands, Lao Gan Ma included, aren't Jain. "Chicken spice" → white pepper, sugar, salt. Buy Chinese-style wrappers (flour, water, salt) — some gyoza wrappers aren't eggless, so check the packet. The Crispi runs hot: 330°F is its floor and plenty here — strips go from pale to burnt in about 45 seconds. No air fryer? Deep-fry the strips in batches in 2 cups of oil until golden. Use a wide sauté pan, not a wok, so the cabbage wilts fast instead of steaming. The gochujang improves overnight. No wrappers? Cut flour tortillas or spring roll pastry into strips. Leftover filling keeps 3 days refrigerated; keep strips and chili crisp at room temperature. For a milder version, halve the gochujang or serve it on the side.