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Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Posted on August 29, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen Leave a comment

These chicken lettuce wraps are a good choice if you’re looking for a quick dish to make for an appetizer or a light meal. I created this recipe when I was craving the popular appetizer served at a famous Chinese Restaurant chain. It’s quite easy to make. It only takes a few minutes to chop up the chicken and vegetables; you can have this on your table in about 30 minutes.

This is also a great dish if you have picky eaters like I do. My youngest daughter opted to eat the filling with rice instead of the “yucky green lettuce”, but boy did she devour the savory, saucy chicken and VEGETABLE-laden filling! 😉 (Shhhh….don’t tell her.)

My complete recipe is located at the bottom of this post. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Make the stir fry sauce.

In a small bowl, mix all of the sauce ingredients together EXCEPT for the water and cornstarch mixture.

Heat a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and chicken.

Pour the sauce into the pan with the chicken.

Stir occasionally, cooking until the chicken is no longer pink.

Add the water chestnuts, mushrooms, onion and Thai basil leaves.

Cook the chicken and vegetable mixture for a couple of minutes.

Stir the cornstarch-water mixture then pour into the pan, stirring the chicken mixture as you pour. Cook for a couple more minutes, stirring constantly. The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

Stir in half of the green onions. Cook for a minute longer then remove from the heat.

Fill the lettuce leaves with the chicken mixture. Top with more green onions and hot pepper flakes.

ENJOY!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

Crispy lettuce filled with a savory mixture of chicken, water chestnuts, ginger, garlic and hoisin sauce that make a delicious appetizer or a light lunch or dinner meal.

Author: Annie @ Annie's Chamorro Kitchen

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Chinese

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Chicken Stir Fry

4 tablespoons sesame oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced (or 1 pound ground chicken)
2 cans water chestnuts, drained and diced
1 package fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, diced
8 Thai basil leaves, optional
8 stalks green onions, sliced

Stir Fry Sauce

2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ soy sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
¼ cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons corn starch

Lettuce Wraps

1 large head butter or iceberg lettuce, wash, dried and leaves separated
Red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

Make the stir fry sauce:

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and rice wine vinegar.
Set aside the cornstarch and water mixture for now.

Cook the chicken:

Heat a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and chicken.
Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.
Add the water chestnuts, mushrooms, onion, and Thai basil leaves to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Stir the cornstarch-water mixture the pour into the pan, stirring as you pour. Cook for another couple of minutes until the sauce thickens.
Stir in half of the green onions. Cook for a minute longer then remove from the heat.

Assemble the chicken wraps:

Scoop some filling into the lettuce leaves.
Top with some sliced green onions and pepper flakes.

ENJOY!

Posted in APPETIZERS, Chicken, Chinese, ETHNIC, HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES, Lunch, MEALS, MEAT, SANDWICHES & WRAPS

Siopao

Posted on June 23, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 5 comments

Siopao is a favorite snack on Guam that is of Chinese (Cha Siu Bao, or Chinese BBQ Pork Buns) or Philippine origin (Siopao Asado). The Philippine version of these buns are normally steamed, while the Chinese version of these delicious snacks are also baked.

You can prepare siopao COMPLETELY from scratch, but there are a couple of shortcuts I take to make the preparation quicker and easier. I do make the dough from scratch, but I save a whole lot of time by using leftover pulled pork from my Hawaiian Pulled Pork recipe. Unless you are feeding a large crowd, you will most certainly have enough pulled pork leftover to make siopao (I use a 9-10 pound pork shoulder to make my pulled pork). All I do is add a few more ingredients to the pulled pork to turn it into a sweet pork filling for my siopao.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Pork Siopao

Dough:

A doubled batch of my yeast donuts dough recipe (find it here)

Filling:

About 4 cups leftover Hawaiian Pulled Pork (find my recipe here)
NOTE: To make chicken siopao, use shredded cooked chicken (I like to use a rotisserie chicken) instead of pulled pork
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/4 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons corn starch
Optional: 6 hard boiled eggs, quartered (so you have 24 pieces of boiled eggs)

Materials:

Parchment paper, cut into 3-inch squares, 24-36 pieces (amount depends on the size of your siopao)
Steamer basket or pot

Directions:

Make my Hawaiian Pulled Pork recipe, then set aside about 4 cups of pulled pork. Enjoy the rest of the pulled pork for your dinner. In the next day or two, used the leftover pulled pork to make siopao. 🙂

Prepare the dough using my yeast donuts recipe. Ensure you double all of the ingredients required for my yeast donuts recipe. Follow the directions up to step number 5 (letting the dough rise).

While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the filling. Place the leftover pulled pork into a medium sized pot. Add the garlic, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and hoisin sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil then quickly stir in the water-corn starch mixture. Return the mixture to a boil, cooking until it thickens. Set the pork filling aside to cool (I placed the filling into a bowl and placed it in the freezer to cool while my dough was rising).

Cut the dough into 24 pieces (for larger siopao) or 36 pieces (for smaller siopao). I made 24 larger pieces that measured about 4 inches in diameter after it was cooked/steamed.

Use a rolling pin to flatten each piece of dough into a circle about 6 inches in diameter. Keep the center of the circle slightly thicker than the edge. Place two tablespoons of filling in the middle of the dough. Optional: Add a piece of egg on top of the filling.

Pull the dough up around the filling, pinching to seal. The sealed part becomes the bottom of the siopao.

Place the siopao on a piece of parchment paper, pinched side down. Continue filling the remaining pieces of dough.

After all the dough is filled, place in your steamer basket. I can fit about 6 large siopao in mine. Don’t let the siopao touch the sides of the steamer, and leave about an inch or two between each one. Place a clean kitchen towel between the steamer pot and the lid to prevent the condensation from dripping back onto the siopao. Steam for 20 minutes then remove from the steamer to cool.

Enjoy while still warm. 🙂

Freeze any uneaten (and already steamed) siopao. To reheat, defrost the siopao in the refrigerator then reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Posted in BREADS, Chinese, ETHNIC, Filipino, MEAT, Pork, SNACKS, Yeast Bread

Pork & Shrimp Chop Suey with Noodles

Posted on August 7, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 5 comments

Chop suey most often refers to a stir fried noodle dish, but I like my version of chop suey with a bit of gravy. I guess my brain refuses to separate spaghetti noodles from sauce, so my chop suey is saucy. That’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Saucy Chop Suey? 🙂

Anyhow, my recipe is made with slices of pork, shrimp, and a variety of veggies — I like adding carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. My mom adds celery in hers, but that’s one vegetable I am not too keen on, so it stays out in my version.

Add your favorite ingredients to make it your own. Give it a try and let me know how you like it. 🙂

CHOP SUEY

This recipe makes enough to feed a family of four, plus enough leftover for a couple of packed lunches the next day.

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean pork, sliced into 1-inch long strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups carrots, thinly sliced
3 cups cabbage, sliced into 4×1-inch pieces
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 pounds raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup soy paste (or regular soy sauce will do)
2 beef bouillon cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 box spaghetti noodles, cooked per package directions

Directions:

1. Using a wok or large pan, cook the pork with the 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep the pork from burning and sticking to the pan.

2. Add the carrots; stir to mix then cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Mix in the cabbage and onions; cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Add the garlic, peppers and mushrooms. Stir to combine then cook for a minute or two.

5. Add the shrimp, soy paste, bouillon cubes, and 1/4 cup of water (set the remaining water aside). Stir then cook for about 3 minutes; the shrimp should begin to turn pink.

6. Turn the heat to high. Mix the remaining water with the cornstarch; stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the pan, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Cook for a minute over high heat; the mixture should start to thicken.

7. Turn the heat to low. Add the cooked spaghetti noodles to the pan. It’s easier if you use a pair of tongs to mix the pork mixture with the noodles. Once the noodles have heated through, remove from the heat and serve.

Enjoy!

Pork & Shrimp Chop Suey with Noodles

Posted in Chinese, Dinner, NOODLES, Pork, SEAFOOD