Chicken Lettuce Wraps 鸡丁生菜卷

The Chicken Lettuce Wraps - A single dish good enough to go with a bowl of plain rice. It is a dish that screams mom's home cooked food (家常菜)!

It is very easy to prepare and cook. And very budget friendly. 

Ingredients (enough for 2 to 4 pax if served together with rice) :

• 1 big pc of boneless chicken thigh (washed, drained and chopped to dices)(I rubbed the chicken with a pinch of salt after drained and set it aside for 10 minutes before cook)
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables 
• 4 pcs dried mushrooms (soak to soften and diced)
• 6 to 8 pcs iceberg lettuce (washed and drained)(to be used as wraps)
• 4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 4 slices of ginger (finely chopped or grated) 
• 1 large onion (finely chopped)
• 1 stalk of spring onion (finely chopped)
• 1 stalk cilantro/coriander (optional)(finely chopped)
• 1 pc red chilli  (optional)(sliced)
• 2 tbsp shaoxing wine or rice wine 
• 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
• few drops of dark soy sauce
• a small pinch of salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)    

Tip : I prefer finely chopped water chestnuts but substituted with frozen mixed vegetables as I ran out of water chestnuts. You do not have to strictly follow the recipe on the usage of ingredients. Just make use of what comes handy to you.

Method :

Heat cooking oil in skillet or wok. Then sauté aromatic ingredients in the following sequence : ginger, onions, garlic.

At medium to high heat, fold in the chicken dices and stir fry for 1 minute. 

Add diced mushrooms when chicken is about 70% cooked. After that, you may add 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce, few drops of dark soy sauce, a small pinch of salt, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp rice wine. Stir all ingredients.

When chicken is almost cooked, add mixed vegetables (or finely chopped water chestnut if you have). Toss the ingredients again for another 1 minute.

When all ingredients are cooked, turn off the heat/fire and add red-cut chilli (optional), coriander (optional) and spring onions. Give it a final toss with 1 tsp sesame oil and transfer to serving bowl.

Ready to be served with iceberg lettuce.

This is really yummy! Exactly from a mom's kitchen.