Mama's Kitchen: Lettuce Wraps

I have a thing with chain restaurants – I don’t really like them because it essentially equates to processed food. If given the choice, I would always pick an indie restaurant. But alas, sometimes when visiting the family and making our way to the suburbs, there aren’t that many options other than chain restaurants. On one family occasion we went to P.F. Changs – it was ok, I mean I practically live in Chinatown so it was not the real deal at all, but it was ok. The best thing I had there was the lettuce wraps – they were amazing! They were crispy, fresh, delicious – quite the opposite of food that I think of when I think of the chains. My recipe for lettuce wraps is inspired by the ones I had at P.F. Chang’s – I just freestyled it based on what I saw and tasted and I think my version came pretty close. Since each person puts together their own wrap, there’s lots of room for winging it with whatever particular ingredients you like. Feel free to switch things up and experiment. Enjoy!

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Ingredients

Ingredients

Cooked chicken – shredded (this is a great way to use left-over rotisserie chicken)

Green Onions – chopped
Shredded Carrots
Cucumber – de-seeded and cut into thin slices
Cilantro – finely chopped
Ginger – 1 inch piece peeled and finely chopped
Iceberg Lettuce
Teriyaki Sauce
Vegetable Oil
Sesame Oil
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Dipping Sauce Ingredients
Equal parts of all of the following (I used 1 tablespoon of each):
Rice Wine Vinegar
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Sesame Oil
Dijon/Spicy Mustard

1. Combine all the ingredients to make the dipping sauce and whisk until the mixture combines. Set aside.

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Dipping Sauce Ingredients

2.  It’s really important to prep everything for this dish – cooking is the very last step.  Make sure you chopped the scallions, cilantro & ginger and sliced the cucumbers.

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Chopping Cilantro

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Chopping scallions

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: De-seeding cucumber

3. Prep the lettuce leaves for the wraps.  Cut the head of lettuce in half.  Carefully peel back each lettuce leaf and try not to tear it.  Rinse each leaf under cold water, drain and set aside.

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Prepping the lettuce

4. Shred the cooked chicken or cut into very small pieces. Saute the shredded chicken with half of the green onions, half of the cilantro, all of the ginger and a splash of teriyaki.  I’m sorry I don’t have a particular measurement for the teriyaki, you just want enough to evenly coat the chicken. Saute for just a few minutes to get all of the ingredients hot.

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Saute the chicken with scallions, cilantro and ginger

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Prepared chicken filling

5. Now, you’re ready to wrap! Get all of your ingredients together to fill the wraps: lettuce leafs for filling, chicken, shredded carrots, the remainder of the cilantro and green onions, cucumber, dipping sauce, and Thai sweet chili sauce. You can add anything you like here – I think red bell pepper, cashews or peanuts or crispy noodles would work well too.

Mama's Kitchen - Lettuce Wraps: Ready for assembly

6. Hold the lettuce leaf in the palm of your hand and fill it with whichever available ingredients you want. Wrap and enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Mama's Kitchen: Lettuce Wraps

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