Recipes

Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups

  • Serves

    makes 6

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BELLE MORIZIO

By SAVEUR Editors


Published on October 18, 2000

This dish is based on a famous Cantonese recipe for squab.

Ingredients

  • 5 Chinese dried black mushrooms
  • 12 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
  • 12 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 3 tbsp. peanut oil
  • 1 tsp. minced peeled ginger
  • 1 tbsp. shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)
  • Freshly ground white pepper
  • 1 oz. Virginia ham, minced
  • 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 2 scallions, white part only, trimmed and minced
  • 12 cup drained whole canned water chestnuts, finely chopped
  • 6 iceberg or bibb lettuce leaves

Instructions

Step 1

Soak mushrooms in a medium bowl of hot water, covered, until soft, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, finely chop chicken breast and thighs with a sharp cleaver or knife and set aside. Remove mushrooms from soaking water and trim off stems. (Discard water and stems; see Snipping Shrooms.) Finely chop caps and set aside.

Step 2

Heat oil in a wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add chopped chicken and stir-fry, breaking meat up with a metal spatula, until no longer raw, about 1 minute. Add shaoxing, season to taste with white pepper, then add ham, mushrooms, and oyster sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add scallions and chestnuts. Spoon chicken mixture into lettuce leaves.

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