Lettuce Wraps at Home

Home made lettuce wraps, ready to eat.

My son Patrick and I are both extremely fond of PF Chang's lettuce wraps, and I was happy to find in my inbox the other day-- the daily dish-- a recipe for lettuce wraps from Allrecipes.com.  I think I've mentioned in earlier posts this website as a source for good recipes.

I made these the other day, and I believe they are just as good as those at  PF Changs!  Patrick and I enjoyed them, anyway.  

Ingredients

• 16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves (I used iceberg lettuce).
• 1 pound lean ground beef  (I used diced chicken instead of beef).
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used Canola).
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (I used the low sodium soy sauce).
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced pickled ginger (I used fresh ginger instead)
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• Asian chile pepper sauce (optional) (I omitted this.)
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
• I added a cup of rice noodles.

Filling for lettuce wraps.

Directions

1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not to tear them. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef (or chicken in my case) in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked beef; continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!.