Lettuce Wraps

Do you love the lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang’s as much as I do? They are my favorite thing on the menu, but we don’t eat at P.F. Chang’s often because it can be pricey and my kiddos don’t really do Chinese food. When a friend said on facebook that she was making them at home, I scoured the internet for a recipe. I found several recipes that sounded delish, but I ended up most closely following Leigh Anne’s at www.yourhomebasedmom.com. They are not exactly like the restaurant version, but I like the addition of so many vegetables. Here’s what I did:

Filling:
1 head iceberg lettuce
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
red bell pepper, diced
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, diced
1/4 lb baby carrots, sliced
1/2 bunch green onions, sliced
1 leek, sliced and diced
1 can diced water chestnuts
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Wash lettuce and pull apart, leaving whole leaves intact. Roll in paper towel to dry.

Brown and crumble turkey in a dutch oven. Strain in colander. Heat sesame oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, carrots, and onions. Saute for about 3 minutes. Add red bell pepper, mushrooms, leeks, and green onions. Saute another 2-3 minutes until veggies are crisp, but not mushy. Add turkey back to vegetable mixture. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger and mix well. Add water chestnuts and heat through.

Sauce:
2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons Oyster sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons szuchuan chili sauce
2 teaspoons sugar

Mix all sauce ingredients together very well and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Fill lettuce leaves with meat/veggie mixture like a taco. Pour sauce over meat. Have plenty of napkins ready because these are extremely messy. But so worth it!

You can vary this recipe to suit your taste. Add any veggies your family enjoys. Even add cashews or peanuts if you like. But don’t substitute the sesame oil! It gives the meat mixture it’s characteristic Chinese flavor.