Recipe: Osmanthus Flower Egg & Jamon Iberico Lettuce Wraps

INGREDIENTS

150 g beansprouts

6 sugar snap peas

75-100 g jamón Iberico

10 leaves of little gem lettuce

2 sprigs of fresh coriander

2½ tbsp vegetable oil

a pinch of sea salt

a pinch of white pepper

3 tbsp hoisin sauce, for drizzling

THE EGG MIX

3 whole duck eggs

2 additional duck egg yolks

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp pure sesame oil

THE BLANCHING LIQUID

200ml chicken stock (or: vegetable stock)

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp sugar

Allergens are marked in bold

Pick the ends off the beansprouts and wash the sprouts well by soaking in cold water, running your fingers through them a few times, rinsing, then soaking once more in cold water. Finely slice the sugar snap peas into long matchsticks. Thinly slice the jamón into bite-sized pieces.

In a large wok, bring the blanching liquid ingredients to the boil. Add the beansprouts and blanch for 30 seconds. Immediately scoop them out into a sieve in the sink, then place them in a bowl of cold water to stop them overcooking. Reserve the blanching liquid for later use in the recipe (the excess can be frozen and used as a base for a noodle soup or for general cooking another day).

The skill in cooking this dish comes from lots of stirring with the base of a wok ladle or a flat spatula, as well as using the correct heat on the wok at all times. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok to a high heat. Once smoking hot, pour the beaten egg mix into the wok and immediately start to stir, scraping it from the bottom of the wok to avoid any burning or browning of the egg.

After a minute or two, when the egg is about halfway cooked (solidifying, but still relatively wobbly), turn the heat down to medium and continue to stir with the flat part of your spatula to ‘scramble’ the egg as much as possible.

Keep stirring and scraping around the base of the wok until the egg really starts to lose its moisture; it will eventually start to look quite dry and will start to separate out into small, bitty pieces, but it should remain yellow rather than browned (this usually takes 3–4 minutes).

At this point, remove the egg from the wok and tip it into a bowl, then return the wok to the hob on a high heat. Heat ½ tablespoon of vegetable oil to a high heat. Add the sugar snap matchsticks, blanched beansprouts and just 1 tablespoon of the leftover blanching liquid and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then return the scrambled egg back to the wok for one last fold through, along with the thin slices of jamón Iberico.

Season with a pinch of sea salt and some white pepper, stir-fry for a further 30 seconds or so, then lightly mix in the coriander leaves. Serve with the gem lettuce and hoisin sauce on the side, and use the lettuce leaves as cups to hold the scrambled egg and a little drizzle of hoisin.