Lettuce Wraps and the problem with copycat recipes

I tasted lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang's a number of years ago.  A savory and spicy mixture of meat, mushrooms and a few vegetables that just danced on the tastebuds. 

 I was hooked.  It became my standard appetizer, even though you could almost make a meal out of it.  Especially if you were the only one munching on them. 

So, of course I had to try to make my own version at home.  Now before I start, let me state this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a copycat recipe P.F.Chang's.  I may get some inspiration from the food I try out in the world, but I can't claim that it'll be identical to their recipe.

Now I'm not a big fan of the copycat recipes that you see out there on the web.  A number of them state that the resulting food will be identical to, if not better than what's at the restaurant.  I've tried a few and let's just say there's something lost in the translation. 

Let me give you an example.  I wanted to see if I could make something similar to Panda Express's Beijing beef.  It's small slices of beef, flash fried in a tempura like batter, then coated in a light, slightly spicy citrus sauce. Here's what it looks like at Panda. Now I found a couple different recipes that swore they were perfect mimics of Panda's dish.  Well, I tried them out.  Here's a picture showing how it turned out.

Yeah, one of these things is not like the other. The color was wrong.  The consistency was completely off.   The recipe included a large portion of hoisin sauce, enough that the sauce was way too thick and it made the meal almost inedible.  I'm sure that the author may like the recipe, but when you look at each of the pictures and there's such a discrepancy, you shouldn't claim it's a copycat.

So anyway, this is not a copycat of P.F.Chang's, but it's extremely good.  The marinade seeps into every bit of the filling and the oyster sauce give the entire dish a great flavor.  And the dipping/pouring spice has just the right amount of heat for the everyday palatte.  You can trim down the hot mustard or srirachi if you want it even calmer.

Lettuce Wraps

Serves 4 as a meal or 8 as an appetizer


Marinade for Filling
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon srirachi hot sauce
2 green onions, sliced into small circles

Filling
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 cup minced shitake mushrooms (rehydrated if using dried)
8 oz water chestnuts, minced into small bits

Other Cooking ingredients
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
8 large leaves of iceberg or bibb lettuce

Dipping or Pouring sauce
1/8 cup of HOT water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons regular or sweet rice vinegar
1 tablespoon srirachi or garlic chili paste (your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese Hot Mustard or 1/2 teaspoon Chinese Hot Mustard Powder

Add all of the marinade ingredients into a gallon size ziploc bag and shake until the sugar dissolves.  Add the ground chicken, shitake mushrooms and water chestnuts, zip the bag closed, and squish the bag until the marinade is thoroughly mixed around.  The meat and veggies will absorb all of the liquid during it's minimum 2 hour soak (you can soak thisall day or overnight if you want)

When you're ready to prepare the meal, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the oils and when the pan is nice and hot, add the garlic and ginger.  Stir quickly for about 30 seconds.   Dump the marinated meat and veggies into the pan and cook until the meat is completely browned.  Separate the lettuce leaves from the head and rinse completely.  Shake off all of the liquid (or use a salad spiiner if you have one) and place them on the serving platter.  Add the meat to the platter when it's ready.

You may have time while you're waiting for the meat to brown to make the dipping sauce.  Add the water and brown sugar into a small bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add all of the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Serve immediately.