One
of the delights of dining in a restaurant is enjoying a dish or cuisine that
you might not prepare yourself. However,
much to the dismay and irritation of some my family members, I might say, “I
could cook this!” Such was the case with
PF Chang’s vegetarian lettuce wraps. I
thought, “Why not?”
The
first point of research was the Internet which offered many “copy-cat” versions
of PF Chang’s vegetarian lettuce wraps. I compared 4 or 5 and created my own
recipe that was certainly influenced by herbs in the cupboard and condiments in
the refrigerator. The experiment succeeded! I did not replicate the dish
offered by the renowned restaurant, but the wraps were delicious, fun, and felt
very healthy! Tomorrow I’ll prepare the
Chinese Lettuce Wraps for a dinner guest. We’ll see how it goes! Enjoy!
Vegetarian
Chinese lettuce wraps
Ingredients
Filling:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (olive)
1 package firm or extra firm
tofu,
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushrooms
2 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
One head of lettuce, Boston Bibb
or Iceberg
Optional: chow mein crunchy
noodles or crispy rice noodles.
Stir Fry Cooking Sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon ground ginger (fresh
if you have available)
Pinch of black pepper (to taste)
Dash crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon chili sauce
Drizzle Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1-2 teaspoon garlic
½ to 1 teaspoon red chile paste,
or Sriracha (more if you like it spicy!
Optional: 1-3 teaspoons hot
mustard (or less, to taste)
Instructions:
1. Press
some of the water out of the tofu. Crumbled the tofu into small bits or cut in
small cubes.
2. Bake
the tofu in the oven at 375 degrees on a lightly greased pan. Bake 10 minutes,
stir or flip the tofu pieces, then bake another 10 minutes. Remove from the
oven and set aside.
3. While
the tofu is baking cut the mushrooms, water chestnuts, and onions into similar
sized pieces – diced or cubed – about the size of small peas.
4. Heat
the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan.
5. Add
water chestnuts, mushrooms, and onion to the pan. Sauté until onions are soft.
6. Add
the tofu and garlic to the pan. Mix gently.
7. Add
the stir fry sauce and be sure all the ingredients are coated with it.
8. Sauté
the mixture for 3-5 minutes.
9. Remove
from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
10. Let
cool slightly before eating so you don’t burn your hands.
11. Serve
with a large spoon alongside the lettuce cups and drizzle sauce. You can also
serve with chow mein crunchy noodles or crispy rice noodles.
12. To
prepare: Spoon the tofu into the lettuce cup and top with the Drizzle sauce.
Add crispy/crunchy noodles if available. Wrap the lettuce around the
ingredients like a taco/burrito and enjoy!
