Chang Chang Chang, Chang of Fools

Okay... Quick - your favorite thing at PF Changs? If you didn't say Lettuce Wraps, you lied. Thursday I decided to try my amazing cooking skills to try my hand at making my own lettuce wraps.

It was delicious. But goodness, if I had 2 hours to prepare a dinner, we'd be eating gourmet much more often.

Since I was making a "new" dish, I had to make a back-up dish. My back-up dish was grilled squash and zucchini with potstickers and steamed rice. Unfortunately, since our lettuce wraps turned out pretty good, we had WAY too much food.

The only thing really missing from my lettuce wrap was the delcious spicy sauce that they give you at the table at PF Chang's. My soy sauce just wasn't enough. Good, but not good enough.

He isn't drugged. I promise. He had had a very long day and was humoring me by taking a photo of him eating dinner. He's a great model when he wants to be.

Recipe:

PF Chang Style Lettuce Wraps

16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves (I used regular lettuce)
1 pound lean ground beef (I substituted chicken)
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minched
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced pickled ginger (I used "fresh" canned ginger)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (very strong-do not use too much)
Asian chile pepper sauce (I used Sriracha, about a teaspoon or so)
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Directions
1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not to tear them (yeah right). Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef (or chicken) in 1 teaspoon of oil, stirring often and reduce heat to medium. Set aside.
3. Cook the onion in the same pain as the meat, stirring frequently. Add garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
4. Add meat to mixture and turn heat to low. Stir and mix all together for about a minute.
5. Fill lettuce about 1/3rd full and spoon mixture in. Wrap up like a taco and Enjoy! Add soy sauce if desired.

(keyingredient app on my iPad)