Chicken Lettuce Wraps

[kitchenelf]

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

LOL - I had to put the "*" in the name of the mushrooms because if I put the "i" which goes there it changed the whole word to all ****. No bad words here!!!

6-10 fresh sh*take mushrooms
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. dry sherry
1 tsp. water
salt & pepper
1 ½ lbs. chicken
5 TBS oil
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions
2 dried chilies (optional)
8 oz. can bamboo shoots
8 oz. can water chestnuts
1 pkg. cellophane Chinese Rice Noodles

Cooking Sauce:

1/4 cup Hoisin
1 TBS soy
1 TBS dry sherry
3 TBS oyster
1 TBS fish sauce
2 TBS water
1 TBS sesame oil
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch

Finely dice the mushrooms (stems removed), finely dice bamboo shoots, and finely dice the water chestnuts. Either finely dice chicken or pulse in food processor. Set everything aside. When this is cooked everything is so finely diced that nothing is distinguishable.

Mix all ingredients of cooking sauce in bowl and set aside.

In medium bowl combine cornstarch, sherry, water, salt and pepper, and chicken. Stir to coat chicken thoroughly. Stir in 1 tsp. oil and let sit 15 minutes to marinate.

Heat wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 TBS oil, add chicken, and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Add 2 TBS oil to pan; add ginger, garlic, and chilies if using, add onion and stir fry for a minute or so. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and stir fry another 2 minutes. Return chicken to pan, add cooking sauce to pan, cook until thickened and hot.

Break cooked cellophane noodles up and place on bottom, spoon chicken mixture on top. Spoon into lettuce leaf and roll. I just used rice noodles that came in a can because I couldn't find directions for the crispy rice noodles anywhere.

Special Sauce:

¼ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS rice vinegar
2 TBS ketchup
1 TBS lemon juice
1/8 tsp. sesame oil
1 TBS Chinese hot mustard
2 tsp. water
1-3 tsp. garlic/red chili paste

Dissolve ¼ cup sugar into ½ cup water in a small bowl. Add 2 TBS soy sauce, 2 TBS rice vinegar, 2 TBS ketchup, 1 TBS lemon juice and 1/8 tsp. sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve with lettuce wraps. Put mixture in lettuce and drizzle on.

***VERY IMPORTANT NOTE - I also added a lot of the Cooking Sauce ingredients to the chicken as it was marinating to give it more flavor. I probably doubled the recipe ingredients and used half for marinating and the other half at the appropriate cooking time. I also drizzled on more oyster and hoisin sauce. These were really, really good.

[ironchef]

actually, shiitake has two "i's" so it would have been ok