{recipe} Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

It’s 6:30, you have dinner guests are arriving in less than an hour, and all you have in the fridge are some boneless skinless chicken breasts and a head of lettuce. There are legos all over the living room floor and the toddler still needs to be changed, fed, and bathed. What do you do?

Well, this is a true story with a happy ending, because I made these easy and delicious chicken lettuce wraps. This is a super simple recipe that comes together quickly. You marinade the chicken for 30 minutes or so, and right before dinner, it cooks up in a frying pan in about 5 minutes. The marinade becomes a saucy glaze. Throw some rice in the rice cooker, and serve it all with sriracha or sambal oelek. Put rice, chicken, and hot sauce in a lettuce leaf and eat it like a little lettuce taco.

Dinner crisis averted, once again. As for the legos… I’m afraid you’re on your own.

What are your favorite last minute recipes? I can always use more ideas!

Recipe: Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tblsp brown sugar
• 2 Tblsp mirin, rice wine, or white wine
• 4-5 cloves minced garlic
• 2 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 Tblsp sesame seeds
• 3 tsp sesame oil, divided

METHOD:

• Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces.
• Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and 1 tsp sesame oil. Stir well to dissolve brown sugar. Add chicken, cover, and marinate for 30 minutes (or more, up to 4 hours.)
• Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add remaining 2 tsp sesame oil. Use a slotted spoon to add chicken in a single layer and cook until browned and cooked through, stirring often, approximately 5 minutes. (You will probably need to do this in 2 batches.)
• When the last batch of chicken is almost done, add marinade to pan and cook until sauce is reduced and glaze-like.
• Serve with lettuce leaves, rice, and sambal oelek or sriracha.