I'm familiar with that preparation and have had it fairly often the past few
years (though I didn't know the generic name), and from what I can recall 20
years later, the lettuce was nothing like what I've had more recently.
Maybe it's faulty memory, maybe it's just the sort of "whole lettuceness" of
it (it wasn't cut up, just a perfect half-head cut side down). I can't
recall it's having that sheen of oil, but it was a long time ago. (And it
wasn't a special, 'catch of the day', sort of thing, it was part of one of
those 10-page menus posted in the window. I can't now recall if there were
other veggie dishes or not, and if so why she chose that one.)

"DC." > wrote ...
> It's a standard Southern Chinese dish called 'YaoChoi' in Cantonese.
Simply
> translated.... Yao=oil, Choi=veg. This is how many Chinese cook their
> vegs/greens. The veg. is either blanched in hot water or lightly boiled,
> sometimes cooked in a wok with a little ho****er or stock etc. there's
many
> ways of doing it & it's up to the chef. The veg is then drained & oil or
> flavoured oil is added together with oyster sauce or soya sauce etc. It is
> then served. When you go to a Cantonese or Chinese rest. you'd normally
ask
> the waiter what fresh vegs. they have for YaoChoi & you would then decide
> how you want it cooked, sometimes with garlic or sometimes just oil &
> oyster/soya sauce etc. ....
>
> DC.
>
>
> "ggull" > wrote
> > About 15-20 years ago I was travelling with a vegetarian friend, and in
> San
> > Francisco's Chinatown. We chose a restaurant because it was pretty
cheap,
> > and it had a veggie dish that she just had to see what it really was --
> > description was something like "lettuce with sauce." ...
>> Finally, the mysterious dish came out
> > and it was a half head of iceburg lettuce, steamed, with oyster sauce (I
> > think) :-).