Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps With Ginger Garlic Sauce
This recipe was inspired by the Pinch of Yum website/ food blog. It's a great website with fantastic recipes. This makes about 4 'person meals', or 2 nights of dinner for two of us.
Notes about the recipe: Start with soaking the rice noodles in water. I pretty much follow the recipe as it is. I think letting the ground turkey sit in the sauce before you cook it is what makes it so flavorful. I do use the rice vinegar with the cornstarch, as I think the vinegar adds a good flavor. I use about 1.5 lb of ground turkey, to ensure that it is enough for two dinners for us. I use iceberg lettuce because I think it holds up well as the 'wrap' and I just use whatever nuts I have around the house (peanuts, cashews, toasted walnuts).u003cbru003e• I have made this with and without the noodles. It's a little heartier with the noodles, but you can use thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta instead of the rice noodles (a good way to save money).
Sauce
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon chili paste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger ((or ginger paste))
- 2 limes (juiced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 scallions (minced)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar ((optional, makes it more tangy))
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch ((optional, helps the sauce thicken))
Main Dish
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1½ pounds ground chicken (or turkey can be used)
- ½ cup peanuts (chopped)
- 6 ounces rice noodles
- 12 lettuce leaves ((romaine, Boston, or iceberg))
- ¼ cup cilantro (fresh, for topping)
- 4 green onions
- ½ cup Peanuts ( lightly salted for topping)
- Soak the rice noodles in a large bowl of water. While the noodles are softening make your Sauce/Marinade. When the noodles are softened, drain and rinse with cold water. Cut into small pieces.
- Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour about 3/4 of the sauce into a bowl with the ground chicken and peanuts. Stir to combine – marinate for 15 minutes.
In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the meat and peanut mixture and sauté for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
Add the noodles and stir-fry for another 5 minutes or until soft, adding a splash of water, oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, or lime juice to moisten the pan as you see fit.
- Remove from heat, scoop mixture into lettuce leaves, top with cilantro, green onions, peanuts, and the reserved sauce.