'Sung Choi Bao' Is What The Chinese Call It.' Ants On Trees' Is What My Mother & Most Malawians Call It. 'Lettuce Wraps', That's All It Is.

I had a whole bag left over of baby gem lettuce leaves & couldn't think of what to do with it. That's when I remembered 'ANTS ON TREES' what a name. My mothers a legend. Luckily this time I remembered pretty much everything I added to this dish, it's quite popular in our household. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound chicken mince

Black pepper crushed

Salt

Chili flakes

Paprika

Red chili powder

Sesame oil 

hoisin sauce 

Dark & light soy sauce

2 medium red chilies 

A piece of ginger 

5 garlic cloves

1 cup of chopped spring onions

2 eggs

Honey

Zest & juice of 3 limes

Juice of 2 small lemons 

Fish sauce

Almond flakes

Vermicelli 

2 Baby gem lettuce leaves

Method

Season the chicken mince with black pepper, salt, chili flakes, paprika and hot chili powder, I did this blindly & seasoned more later to my preference. Add 1/4 cup sesame in pan & heat up till its slightly smoking. Add the seasoned chicken mince to the pan & cook, add in 2tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce & 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce. Cook the mince till its brown & crispy (taste and adjust seasoning if needed). Once the mince is cooked place it in a sieve to drain out an excess fat and set aside for later.

Very finely chop up 2 medium red chilies, a piece of ginger, 5 garlic cloves and the spring onions. In the same pan you used to cook the mince, add a splash of sesame oil and cook the garlic, ginger and 1 2/3 of the red chilies. Cook for a few minutes until golden brown and add 1 tsp honey to caramelize. Add the mince back in the pan and mix everything till well combined.

Add 1 tbsp fish sauce, the zest and juice of 3 limes and the juice of 2 small lemons. Make sure to stir everything till its fully combined. Keep tasting to check if the seasoning needs any adjustments. Leave to stay heated on very low heat.

Meanwhile in a separate non stick pan heat up 1 tbsp sesame oil. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl and once the pan is heated add the eggs &  make a egg pancake. This is done by pouring the beaten eggs into the pan making sure the whole pan is covered. Once the bottom is cooked after 30 seconds flip over to cook the other side. Transfer the pancake & cut it up into small strips. Add the egg strips to the mince mixture along with the spring onions & 2 handfuls of toasted almond flakes. Combine everything and take of heat.

Deep fry some vermicelli noodles. Separate the leaves on the baby gem lettuce and top it off with some mince, sweet chili dipping sauce (I make mines from scratch, you can always resort to shop bought) & lastly the fried vermicelli & enjoy. 

Chia̍h Hok. Eat well.