How to Fry Lettuce... (Easy Recipe)

Yes, I said Lettuce... I've always loved lettuce.... in salads. But then one day after my honeymoon, my husband looked at me, and said something I'll never forget: "Sweetie, can you make me some fried lettuce, please? I want some fried lettuce with dinner." And I was taken aback by the request (despite how adorable it was)... And I thought, "Wait, what? You want me to fry lettuce? Who does that? No one does that... right? I never heard of such a thing." So I asked, "What do you mean fry lettuce? People cook lettuce? How do you want it cooked?" And so, my Chinese husband showed me how to "fry lettuce" for the first time. And when I tried it, I was surprised... I actually liked it! So now, this is a normal, common side dish in my house. And who knows? Maybe you'll like it, too... Here's what to do...

First: Get a head of iceberg lettuce and tear off medium sized pieces to place in a strainer for rinsing. Fill the strainer as much as you need. Lettuce is mostly water, so when it's cooked, it's size is greatly reduced. A heaping strainer full will all fit in its cooked form on a regular plate. Wash the leaves.

Second: Prepare the other ingredients... Peel 3-5 garlic cloves, depending on your taste preference. Slice around 3 small pieces of ginger. You'll need iodized salt, garlic powder, a couple teaspoons of sugar, and a thickening powder (sweet potato or corn starch), a wok or frying pan, and the frying oil of your choice (olive and canola both work just fine). If you use a nonstick pan, use a wooden spoon to protect the pan from scratching. Got everything ready?

Third: Pour oil in the pan along with ginger and garlic. Let the oil heat up so that it bubbles around the garlic and ginger. This allows the flavors to infuse into the oil. Once the oil is hot, pour all your lettuce leaves into the pan (quickly so the garlic won't burn). If the oil starts to spit at you, you may want to turn the heat down a little, unless you're like my husband, who keeps it on high to finish it quickly and in his words "efficiently"... (Stay safe, ok? That's important too.)

Fourth: Stir the lettuce so that the heat is evenly distributed between the leaves. Now you can toss in some of the flavors: the sugar and garlic powder, and the salt (be careful to not over do the salt here. You can use a taste-tester spoon to make sure that the salt is just right.)

Lastly: Mix 1/4th to 1/2 teaspoon of thickening powder with a little water (NOT too much water or it'll be soupy!). One or two ounces is probably enough. Pour it into your lettuce and mix it in. Once the leaves are cooked through and glossy like in my picture, it's done! Plate and serve as the green side vegetable with some rice from the rice cooker and some oven-barbecued chicken, and you have an easy, complete meal! Enjoy!