Dongbei Rice Wraps

Fluff the 400 g cooked rice. Wash and thoroughly dry the 8 large lettuce leaves. Julienne the 100 g cucumber; cut the 250 g potato into about 2 cm chunks and the 150 g eggplant into about 2 cm thick batons. Slice the 2 spring onions and divide equally. Mince the garlic clove; wash, dry and chop the 2 cilantro stalks. Beat the 2 eggs. Mix the 2 tablespoons soybean paste with the 3 tablespoons water.

Bring water to a boil in a steamer. Add all the potato and eggplant, cover and steam for about 15–20 minutes. A chopstick should pass easily through the potato centers and the eggplant flesh should collapse softly. Continue steaming if needed. Make the egg sauce in Steps 4–5 while they steam.

Drain any pooled water from the steamed potato and eggplant. Mash the potato while hot, then pull apart the eggplant with a fork and fold it in, keeping a little purple skin and soft eggplant texture visible. The mash should hold together without hard centers or pooled liquid. Let it become warm enough to handle.

Heat the 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a small wok over medium heat. Add all the beaten egg and break it into small curds with a wooden spatula. Once fully set with no liquid egg remaining, turn the heat to low. Keep the curds soft rather than crisp.

Add all the garlic and half the spring onion to the eggs. Stir over low heat until fragrant. Add all the soybean-paste mixture from Step 1 and gently bubble, stirring for about 2–3 minutes, until thick but flowing and coating the curds. A spatula drawn through it should leave a trail that slowly closes. Do not reduce it dry. Turn off the heat and let it become warm.

Overlap the lettuce leaves in pairs to make 4 wrappers. Divide all the rice, mash, egg sauce, cucumber, cilantro and remaining spring onion into 4 equal portions. Put rice in the center of each wrapper, followed by mash, egg sauce and the fresh toppings, leaving a border for folding. The rice and hot fillings should be warm enough to handle, with no water pooling on the leaves.

Fold both sides of the leaves inward, then gently roll up from the edge nearest you. Rest seam-side down on a plate. Repeat to make 4 wraps and serve immediately, supporting the base when lifting so the filling stays inside.