Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps – Gluten Free Suggestions

Asian style foods are probably one of the few food types that I will rarely get bored with. I think it’s the soy sauce but I can be a trifle addicted to it. Cooking Asian styled foods is also great because it can be so quick and healthy. Some days, I don’t want to spend a long time in the kitchen. A quick stirfry keeps the heat down and vegetable intake up.

Whenever my parent’s and I go to our favorite Chinese restaurant, my father loves to order chicken lettuce wraps for an appetizer. I always loved it but I am not a big fan of getting messy foods out side of my own kitchen. Remembering that fond memory, I decided to give this dish a try. I hope you enjoy it as much as my husband and I did 🙂

Note on Gluten Free Suggestions:

Soy Sauce – make sure your label says gluten-free. Some brands are made with wheat, other brands are made with rice.

Hoisin Sauce – also make sure of your label. I found a recipe for a homemade version of Hoisin sauce but I have not tried it out yet.

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Ingredients

2 cups, of fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps chopped

1/2 cup of shredded carrots

1 small onion, diced

3-4 boneless chicken thighs

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons grated ginger

1 medium-sized red bell pepper (I used some leftover roasted bell peppers)

1 small tin of sliced water chestnuts, drained

3 scallions, the greened chopped small

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce 

1 tablespoon garlic and chili sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

1 head of iceberg lettuce, remove the core and cut into quarters.
Canola Oil

Directions

1. Place a large skillet or wok on HIGH heat with a 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil (enough to cook the chicken)
2. When the oil is very hot, carefully add chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. You want the chicken to brown a little bit.
3. When chicken starts to brown, add mushrooms and onions, stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add ginger and garlic, stir fry addition 1 minute
5. Add your bell pepper, carrots, water chestnuts and scallion and continue to stir fry until all is well combined and the chicken is browned.
6. Add Hoisin sauce and chili/garlic sauce and mix to combine – Remove from heat.
7. Serve chicken filling with lettuce leaves, using leaves as a wrap.

You can also serve chicken filling with rice. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!