Chicken Lettuce Wrap

I love chicken lettuce wraps. Few years back, we tried this in one of the restaurants and ever since then, I have been making it at home. Although it is an appetizer, I like to serve it as a light meal with steam rice. We usually take the lettuce, top it up with rice, chicken and pour some sauce, wrap it up and eat. Below recipe is adapted from Rachel Ray’s, Barbecued Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wrap.

Chicken Lettuce Wrap

Serves:  2 - 4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
For Spicy Peanut Sauce :
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 tablespoon soy/soya sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Asian chili garlic sauce (adjust to taste)
1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 clove garlic - crushed
1tablespoon fresh cilantro - chopped
1 green onion – thinly sliced

For Lettuce Wrap:
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves of garlic – crushed -divided
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast – cut into very small pieces
12 to 15 fresh shitake mushrooms – stems removed and thinly sliced – about 2 1/2 cups
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 inch ginger – grated – about 1 teaspoon
1 orange zest
1 small red bell pepper – diced small – about 1 cup
3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
3 green onion – thinly sliced
1 iceberg lettuce – quartered
2 oranges – cut out the segments and reserve the core

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk peanut butter and hot water together. Add the remaining ingredients for the sauce and mix well to combine. Add more water if needed and keep this aside.
2. Heat a skillet on high heat and add oil. Add half of the crushed garlic and stir for few seconds.
3. Add chicken, stir and cook for a minute or two. Add mushrooms and cook for another two minutes.
4. Add the rest of the garlic, ginger, a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Stir few times and cook for about a minute.
5. Next, add orange zest and red bell pepper and cook for further minute.
6. Add Hoisin sauce, and squeeze out juice from the reserved orange cores into the pot. Mix well and cook a minute more. Turn off the heat and add green onions and stir.
7. To serve, pile few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture on lettuce leaves, pour some peanut sauce and top it up with orange segments. Wrap and eat.

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