A Tasty Low Carb Recipe
Ok, so I’m feeling kind of fragile at the moment, so you’ll have to bear with me through today’s post. Why am I feeling fragile? Two words: Low. Carb. Yes, I’ve recently tortured myself into the exercise of eating “low carb” for a while. I know what you’re thinking. A blogger on a CHINESE food blog (read: cooker of rice, noodles, dumplings, and various other carb-filled delights) on a freaking LOW CARB DIET?! [I would insert a tragic crying emoji here, but a few months ago, Kaitlin tried adding a poop emoji to one of her posts––don’t ask––and ended up losing the whole post to some WordPress error. Better not risk it.] So yeah, I’ve been trying to replace my rice and noodles with veggies. And lately, I’ve been falling into the same trap that I’m sure many others have succumbed to. The salad trap. I’ve had a week of eating way too much salad, and it’s time to add a little variety to the picture. Enter: these chicken lettuce wraps. Ground chicken sautéed with onions, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin, and a bunch of other tasty ingredients, all wrapped up taco-style in yes…lettuce. But––and here’s the key distinction––it’s NOT SALAD. Which is definitely a win. You’ll see a couple optional ingredients in the recipe below. Sui mi ya cai is a kind of pickled vegetable that you can probably find in your local Chinese grocery store. They come in little vacuum-sealed packs, and we also use them in our Dan Dan Noodles Recipe. If you can’t find them, don’t worry. They’re optional! I also added a red chili to this dish, because I’m all for a little sinus-clearing spice, but you can feel free to leave that out as well.
For those of you sitting in front of your computers, panicking, because you’re afraid we’re not going to cook noodles anymore, never fear. I’m posting a noodle recipe on Saturday. ;)
Recipe Instructions
Heat the oil a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the chicken and stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until browned.
Add the sui mi ya cai and red chili (if using) and stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
Stir in the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar. Add the water and cornstarch mixture, and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
Serve the filling in the lettuce leaves garnished with scallions and cilantro or serve everything separately and let everyone put together their own customized chicken lettuce wraps!
