Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps
(from Bethany’s recipe box)
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN DISH OR 6 AS AN APPETIZER
To make an entrée, serve this dish with steamed white rice.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
This dish, popularized by chain restaurants like P.F. Chang’s and the Cheesecake Factory, is based on a Cantonese dish called sung choy bao. Most recipes for this dish suffer from a similar fate—stringy, tasteless meat drowned in a bland sauce. To remedy this, we started with flavorful chicken thighs and marinated them in soy sauce and rice wine. To keep the meat from drying out when stir-fried, we coated it in a velvetizing cornstarch slurry, which helped it retain moisture as it cooked.
Source: Cook's Illustrated Published May 1, 2012 (CC and CI collection)
Categories: Poultry
Ingredients
- CHICKEN:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons Chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- SAUCE:
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- STIR-FRY:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 2 scallions, white parts minced, green parts sliced thin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (8-oz) head Bibb lettuce, washed and dried, leaves separated and left whole
- Hoisin sauce
Directions
-
FOR THE CHICKEN: Place chicken pieces on large plate in single layer. Freeze meat until firm and starting to harden around edges, about 20 minutes.
-
Whisk rice wine, soy sauce, oil, and cornstarch together in bowl. Pulse half of meat in food processor until coarsely chopped into 1/4 to 1/8-inch pieces, about 10 pulses. Transfer meat to bowl with rice wine mixture and repeat with remaining chunks. Toss chicken to coat and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
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FOR THE SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl; set aside.
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FOR THE STIR-FRY: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until smoking. Add chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until opaque, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to bowl and wipe out skillet.
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Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over high heat until smoking. Add celery and mushrooms; cook, stirring constantly, until mushrooms have reduced in size by half and celery is crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add water chestnuts, scallion whites, and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk sauce to recombine. Return chicken to skillet; add sauce and toss to combine. Spoon into lettuce leaves and sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve, passing hoisin sauce separately.