I love a good Lettuce Wrap. PF Chang's are amazing but we rarely ever are near one. I'm telling ya, these wraps are VERY similar to the ones served at PF Chang's! I've tried various recipes over the years and this one is here to stay. Oh, and you HAVE to make the dipping sauce--it's spectacular! And super easy :-) One thing I should mention--don't be intimidated by the length of the ingredient list. Everything comes together super quickly and if you're willing to spend the extra money, you can get most of the produce items in already-prepared forms.
Now--the Crab Rangoon. I'm not trying to brag, but I've been known to make a great Crab Rangoon. In fact, I about burned down our apartment building frying up a bunch of them for the neighbor boys several years ago. But it was totally worth it :-) One of my secrets involves REAL crab...not that imitation kind...or even the kind in a can. I'm talking the fresh crab from the meat section. You can buy a plastic cup of it for about $6 and it will go a really loooooooong ways--trust me. And my other secret--CHIVE cream cheese. Not the regular cream cheese, but the Philadelphia kind with the chives already in it. The recipe I posted below also calls for Sriracha Chile Sauce (aka Rooster sauce) but if you're not one for spice, you can totally skip it and still have a killer Crab Rangoon!
Asian Lettuce Wraps (Recipe by Our Best Bites)
2 t. canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 lb ground chicken
3 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
1/2 t. kosher salt
4 C bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
8oz canned sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
4 T. soy sauce
1 t. sesame oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)
1/2-1 t. Sriracha or other hot sauce (1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)
1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce
Dipping/Drizzling Sauce:
4 T. soy sauce
4 T. rice vinegar
3 T. water
2 t. honey
1-2 t. finely minced fresh ginger
Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken. If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce. Yield: about 5 C chicken mixture. Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps.
Sriracha Spiked (Baked) Crab Rangoon
1 pkg. Wonton wrappers
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (I prefer to use the Philadelphia Chive variety)
2 - 2 1/2 t. Sriracha chile sauce
1/2 t. soy sauce
3 T. finely chopped green onion (you don't need this if you use the Chive cream cheese)
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. grated lemon zest
4 oz. well-drained lump crab meat (trust me, it's worth it to splurge for the real stuff!)
Salt, to taste
To make the filling , combine the cream cheese and chile sauce (to taste) in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, green onion, pepper, lemon zest, and crab meat. Use a fork to mix well. Taste and add salt, as needed. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes before using, or refrigerate up to a day in advance.
Fill each wonton skin with about 1 teaspoon of the filling. Center the filling, brush two adjoining sides with water, then fold to create a triangle. Place on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. You may also want to spray the wontons with nonstick cooking spray to help brown them.
Bake at 425 °F (210 °C) for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown (you may need to flip them half-way through the baking time so that they brown evenly). Or you can just fry them in hot oil--but baking them makes ya feel a bit more healthy. Serve warm.
*And if you don't like spice at all, feel free to omit the Sriracha...you will still have a very yummy, and traditional, crab rangoon!
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