Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I made this recipe from the book Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur. I like his books cause if you've had the dishes at the restaurant then you know what they're going to taste like. And he does a really good job of replicating the recipes. At least the ones I have tried have been pretty dead on. This was the lettuce wrap recipe from P.F. Chang's. It made a lot more than I thought it would. The recipe only used 2 chicken breasts and said it would serve 2 to 3 people as an appetizer. I thought it would serve the two of us for dinner, but with no leftovers. However, there was still almost half of the filling left. I had 2 wraps and D had 3, and I think we'll be able to get another 3 wraps out of it. The sauce that you pour over the filling can be made to fit your heat level. Well, we made what was called "hot" in the book, and it was more what I would call medium. It was a good heat, but if you want it really spicy go for more than "hot".

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2 chicken breasts
1 can water chestnuts, diced to pea size
2 green onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
(the recipe also called for mushrooms, but I left them out)
2 Tbls soy sauce
2 Tbls brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
3 Tbls vegetable oil
Maifun rick sticks (enough to fill the plate, I think I used about 1/3 of the package)
lettuce cups

Fry the rick sticks according to package directions and lay on the serving plate. Heat 2 Tbls oil in a wok to medium-high heat and cook the chicken all the way through (5-8 minutes on each side). Stir together the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add the last Tbls of oil to the wok and stir-fry the chicken, water chestnuts, green onions, and garlic for a few minutes. Add the sauce. Plate on top of the fried rice sticks. For the lettuce cups, chop the stem off of a head of iceburg lettuce. Peel each leaf off without ripping it. This is your wrapper.

Special Sauce (make ahead)

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tbls soy sauce
2 Tbls rice vinegar
2 Tbls ketchup
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
chili garlic sauce
chinese hot mustard

Dissolve the sugar in the water (I had to use a little heat). Whisk in the soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil. For mild, add 1 tsp each chili garlic sauce and chinese hot mustard; for medium, use 2 tsp each; for hot, use 3 tsp each. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Spoon as much sauce as wanted into your lettuce cups.