Char siu lettuce rolls

Ingredients

2 x 450g/1lb pork fillets
5cm/2in fresh root ginger, peeled
1 large garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2tsp light soft brown sugar
1 tsp five-spice powder
2 tbsp sunflower oil
4-6 drops red food colouring (optional)
2 tbsp clear honey

To serve:
½ cucumber
6 spring onions, trimmed
1 large iceberg lettuce, broken into leaves
12 tbsp chinese plum sauce

This is a Dig In recipe.

Method

1. Trim any fat and membrane off the outside of the pork fillets.
2. Finely grate the ginger and squeeze out the juice into a shallow non-metalic dish. Stir in the rest of the marinade ingredients.
3. Add the pork fillets and turn them over in the mixture until they are really well coated. Cover and set aside for a least 2 hours.
4. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut into thin strips about 7.5cm/3in long. Halve the spring onions and cut lengthways into very thin shreds. Arrange on a serving plate in separate piles along with the lettuce leaves and a small bowl of the plum sauce.
5. Barbecue the pork fillets over a medium-hot coals for about 20 minutes, turning now and then and basting with the leftover marinade, until the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a skewer.
6. Transfer the pork to a board, carve it into very thin slices and then pile it on to a warm serving plate. Instruct everyone to take a lettuce leaf and place a line of cucumber strips, shredded spring onion and sliced pork down the centre. Then spoon over a little plum sauce, roll the lettuce leaf up into a parcel and eat it!

This recipe has been tagged by Dig In. Make this dish even tastier, cheaper and rewarding by using your home-grown veg. If you're a novice grower wanting advice or a devotee with tips to share, visit Dig In and spread the word on growing your own.