Korean-Inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This week, Barbara’s Recipe Corner has another guest post by our library assistant, Cindy!

My family enjoys trying new food; however, I am usually more cautious about new flavors.  Cooking at home gives me control over the level of spiciness or other things that might otherwise be overwhelming in a new dish.  Skinnytaste Fast and Slow by Gina Homolka is a favorite cookbook for trying some of these unfamiliar meals.  Not only has each recipe I’ve tried been delicious, but they have been simple to prepare.  The Korean-Inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps came together in about 30 minutes, so it was perfect for a quick dinner.  This was an easy recipe to make adjustments based on my family’s likes and dislikes.  I used ground turkey in place of chicken (because that’s what I had) and used white rice instead of the brown rice.  The sriracha sauce was left off so each person could add it to their taste.  I hope you’ll find a favorite new recipe or two.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • 12 large outer lettuce leaves, such as green leaf or Bibb
  • 2 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
  • 2 Tablespoons gochujuang or Sriracha sauce
  • 1/2 Tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 2 scallions, sliced
  1. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes.
  2. Heat a large, deep, nonstick skillet over high heat and coat with cooking spray.  Add the chicken and cook, using a wooden spoon to break the meat into pieces as it browns,  about 5 minutes.  Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook 1 minute.  Pour the soy sauce mixture over the chicken, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
  3. To serve, place 3 lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates.  Spoon 3 tablespoons rice into the middle of each leaf and top with 3 1/2 tablespoons chicken.  Evenly divide the gochujang, sesame seeds, and scallions among the leaves.

Serves 4.