Crisp Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin

I love lettuce wraps! In Korea, where I grew up, I used to wrap bulgogi or kalbi in lettuce. (And I thought we were the only people in the world who did that. Turns out I was wrong!) So I always get really excited whenever I see recipes like this! Hoisin sauce is such a tasty sauce that makes any kind of ground meat extra more flavorful and is perfect for lettuce wraps. My other favorite thing about this dish was the filling for the wraps. It's got all kinds of goodies in there, such as shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, carrots, giner, garlic, slivered almonds, ground turkey, etc. Sounds pretty healthy, right? Well, it is! :)

Hoisin Lettuce Wraps

Adapted and changed from "The New Stir-Fry Cookbook"

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

4 dried shitake mushrooms or 1 4oz can of shitake mushrooms, chopped
oil for cooking
1/4 cup slivered almonds
4 oz water chestnuts, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finly chopped
1 lb extra lean ground turkey
2 teaspoons coriander
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon chili sauce
salt and pepper as needed
12 lettuce leaves, washed and dried

Sauce-
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon coriander
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

With dried shitake mushrooms, soak them in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes, or until softened. Discard the tough stems and chop the mushrooms finely. Set aside. If using canned mushrooms, chop them and set aside.

To make the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the wok until very hot, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and swirl it around to coat the side. Stir-fry the almonds, water chestnuts, carrot and spring onion for 1 minute, or until lightly cooked but not browned - they should still be crisp. Remove from the wok and set aside.

Reheat the wo and add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Stir-fry the ground turkey, coriander, giner and mushrroms over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the turkey changes color, but do not overcook.

Add the sauce and stir to combine. Return the vegetable mixture to the wok and add the hoisin sauce, chili sauce, and salt and pepper and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through and the mixture is well combined. Spoon the turkey mixture into the lettuce leaves and fold into parcels.

Serve with rice if you'd like.

Enjoy!