Chicken Lettuce Wraps
(copycat PF Changs)

Because we are watching calories we decided to use ground chicken breast for this dish that is about 98% fat free, which makes browning a challenge. So I have found that cooking it in a skillet with water cooks the chicken and then it can be lightly browned then if you want. You can of course use beef or ground turkey if you like.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken
3 tablespoons Hoison sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon Sirachia or Sambal Oelek
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 ounces (2 cups) cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
2 small cans waterchestnuts diced

1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup sliced scallions, divided
1 head butter lettuce

Directions;

1. Cook the ground chicken in a skillet with a cup of water till it is just cooked. This will keep it moist. Reserve to a bowl.

Gather all your ingredients, putting the meat, and chopped mushrooms and chestnuts in bowls. I put the chopped garlic and grated ginger in small bowls with some oil. You can then use both the oil and garlic or ginger to brown the mushrooms and meat.

Here I heat up the pan on medium, and add the garlic, ginger in the oil, also the sesame oil, keeping the spices in the center so they get maximum heat to open up the flavors. The mushrooms in the pan keep the pan from overheating and burning the garlic.

If you just mix the mushrooms with the garlic and ginger it wouldn't open up the flavors the same. In Indian cooking they love to saute the spices before adding the rest of the ingredients to bring out the flavor and aroma of all the spices.

Blend and add the Hoison sauce, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper and Sirachia or Sambal.

Then blend thoroughly the cornstarch with the low sodium soy sauce and add to the mix and cook for a few minutes and it will lightly thicken the mixture.

Add the chestnuts and blend in.

Wash the butter lettuce leaves and serve on a platter with the mix separate and a small amount of green onions for topping. For an appetizer platter go ahead and fill the leaves and top with the garnish. But they need to be served immediately.

Here I used Iceberg lettuce and trimmed the leaves to make nice cups.

printer friendly

5 piece Mandolin by Swiss Mar/Borner