PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

 

This recipe, from The Culinary Life, tastes just like the restaurant's version.  So good!

• Recipe for stir fry sauce
• 4 tablespoons sugar or agave nectar
• ½ cup hot water
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or  tamari
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup or canned tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon dark sesame oil
  
• Recipe for dipping sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (not packed tightly)
• ½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar
  
• Recipe for stir-fried chicken
• 1 teaspoon hot water
• 1 tablespoon nice dijon mustard (use the good stuff, it will make a difference)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into half-inch cubes”
• 1 – 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained and minced
• ½ cup minced mushrooms (minced to the same size as the water chestnuts)
• ½ yellow onion, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• leaves of iceberg lettuce

Instructions

1. Method for stir fry recipe: In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in ½ cup hot water. Blend in soy sauce or tamari, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and dark sesame oil. Mix well and set aside in the refrigerator until the rest of the dish is ready.
2. Method for dipping sauce recipe: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce or tamari, brown sugar, and rice vinegar. Mix well and set aside.
3. Method for Stir-Fried Chicken Recipe: In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon hot water, dijon mustard and minced garlic and set this aside.
4. In a wok or large frying pan over high heat, combine olive oil and sesame oil. Heat until it shimmers, about one minute. Add chicken chunks and stir fry until entirely cooked through, about five minutes. Remove from the chicken pan and allow to cool, but reserve the oil in the wok or pan, keeping it hot over a low flame.
5. Take the pan or wok that you cooked the chicken in (with the still warming oil) and turn it up to medium-high heat. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, wait one minute, and then add the garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, cooked chicken, and the stir-fry sauce. Cook everything, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms have cooked through and are tender, about four minutes. Remove from pan and place in a serving dish.
6. Add mustard/garlic mixture that you set aside to the stir fry, ½ a teaspoon at time to taste.
7. Serve the entire lettuce wrap recipe in a nice, big serving tray, complete and iceberg lettuce leaves, and dipping sauce in small bowls.