This wrapped dish, best assembled at the table, is great fun, either as a starter or as part of your main meal, and as fitting for a weeknight as tacos. It has a wonderful combination of contrasting flavors and textures: the spicy filling is offset by the sweetness of hoisin sauce and the cool crunch of lettuce.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　2 tablespoons corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil

　　2 garlic cloves, minced

　　One 1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

　　1 scallion, trimmed and chopped

　　1 small fresh hot red chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced, or a few pinches of hot red pepper flakes

　　1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped

　　1/4 pound water chestnuts, preferably fresh, trimmed, peeled, and chopped

　　3/4 pound small shrimp, peeled and minced

　　2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

　　2 teaspoons soy sauce

　　2 teaspoons oyster sauce

　　1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

　　1 head of iceberg lettuce, leaves separated

　　Hoisin sauce for serving

　　

Step 1

Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, scallion, and chile and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the red pepper and water chestnuts and cook until bright and crisp, about 2 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Stir in the shrimp, wine, soy sauce, and oyster sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp is pink and the sauce bubbling, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving dish, and sprinkle with sesame oil.

　　

Step 3

Assemble the dish while eating: take a piece of lettuce, spread some hoisin sauce in it, and top with a spoon or two of the shrimp mixture.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.