Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 pound ground chicken (ground turkey, beef, or pork can be used.)
1 medium/large sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Asian chili garlic sauce, or to taste (sriracha may be substituted) 

3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger, or to taste 

one 8-ounce can water chestnut, drained and diced small
2 to 3 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
butter lettuce leaves, for serving 

Pine nuts to garnish generously


Directions:

To a large skillet, add the oils, meat, and cook over medium-high heat until meat is cooked through; stir intermittently to crumble while cooking.

Add the onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, chili garlic sauce, stir to combine, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft and translucent and most of the liquid has been absorbed; stir intermittently.

Add the garlic, ginger, stir to combine, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.

Add the water chestnuts, green onions, salt and pepper to taste, and cook for about 2 minutes, or until tender. Taste filling and make any necessary flavor adjustments, i.e. more soy sauce, hoisin, pepper, etc.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the mixture into each lettuce leaf to serve. Garnish generously with pine nuts. Eat "taco style" using lettuce leaf as the shell. Enjoy! The filling will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Ginger Dressing

1/2 cup onion

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons fresh ginger root

2 tablespoons celery

1-2 tablespoons ketchup

4 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons white sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Coarsely chop ingredients.  In a blender, combine the onion, peanut oil, rice vinegar, water, ginger, celery, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all of the ingredients are well-pureed. 

Hot and Sour Soup

·         4 dried Chinese fungi (about 1 ounce), such as wood ears, shitake, or cloud ears (can use a mixture)

·         2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

·         1 tsp. sesame oil (or to taste)

·         1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

·         2-3 tsps. red chili paste

·         1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, rinsed well and sliced

·         1/4 pound barbecued pork or chicken, shredded

·         1/4 cup soy sauce

·         ½ tsp minced garlic

·         1/4 cup rice vinegar or red wine vinegar

·         Juice and zest of 1 lemon or lime

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

·         Pinch sugar

·         2 quarts Chicken Stock

·         1 square firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch strips

·         3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water

·         1 – 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

·         Chopped green onions, grated carrot, and cilantro leaves, for garnish

Put the fungus in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Drain and rinse; discard any hard clusters in the centers. (You can reserve the liquid to add to the soup for extra flavor.)

Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add the ginger, chili paste, wood ears, bamboo shoots, and meat; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor. Sprinkle with sesame oil.  Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, lemon or lime juice and zest, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the chicken stock (and reserved mushroom liquid, if using), bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions, grated carrot, and cilantro before serving.