Popular Asian eatery P.F. Chang's has been celebrating its 25th birthday.
The lettuce wraps are arguably one of the most popular and best-loved dishes at P.F. Chang's. They consist of seasoned ground chicken that's scooped into crunchy iceberg lettuce and topped with crispy bean thread noodles. Wrap and eat.
The chain won't give out the recipe, of course, but it's fairly simple to replicate. Most copycat recipes I've seen call for mixing the ground chicken with chopped mushrooms and water chestnuts, but you can make the wraps however you like.
P.F. Chang's uses iceberg lettuce, but my preference is to use either the softer Bibb lettuce or the Little Gem romaine variety. The Little Gem are small lettuce heads with compact curly leaves. Not all stores carry them.
The leaves of Little Gem have a slightly sweet flavor and they're crunchy _ but not fall-apart crunchy like whole heads of iceberg can be.
Another lettuce I came across recently is a smaller version of romaine. These are about half the size of romaine hearts, and they're sold three to a package for about $3.
Smaller varieties of lettuce are ideal for wraps. If you're watching your carbohydrate intake and omitting bread, they're a fine for making sandwiches. They also make terrific holders for appetizers like shrimp cocktail.
Today's lettuce-wrap recipe features pork tenderloin. But you can use chicken or make it with all vegetables. It also works with beef and shrimp. You'll need to adjust the cooking times accordingly.
