Now, I haven’t been out to PF Chang’s for quite a while, but one thing that I remember fondly about this place is that I always ordered the lettuce wraps whenever I went.  As I have a mountain of Chinese cabbage in from my CSA box and we’re going to restaurants much less these days, I decided to try to recreate this dish at home.  I added a lot of extra veggies in my dish and probably used far less fat and salt compared to the original PF Chang’s lettuce wraps, so I felt like my version was a very satisfying, but much healthier version.

I used Chinese cabbage both in the dish and as my wrapper, because the texture of the leaves are softer (like lettuce) but the stems are firmer (like cabbage).  You can sub for normal cabbage, Napa cabbage, or more bok choy in the stir fry and use the lettuce of your choice (romaine or iceberg would work great!) for the wraps.  The water chestnuts in this dish are also optional if you don’t have them on-hand, but I do think they add a really nice, extra crunch to the meal that is a welcome addition.  I served this dish with my Buttery Miso Ramen Noodles on the side, which was a very luxurious but simple addition to the meal!

Recipe down below, photos below and up top!  This made a lot of food, enough for 2 of us to have this as a big dinner and a filling lunch later that week.

PF Chang’s Style Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• For the filling:
  • 10-15 shitake mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 small head of Chinese cabbage
    • Alternatively, 1 quarter of a normal or Napa cabbage
  • 4-6 heads of bok choy, sliced thin
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
  • 1 tbsp ginger, grated
  • 1 tbsp gochujang sauce
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 lb ground pork
  •  1 can water chestnuts, chopped
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil (canola or any neutral oil will work)
• For the wraps/serving:
  • 12 lettuce leaves or Chinese cabbage leaves
  • ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
  • Hot sauce of your liking (optional)

Method:

1. In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil over medium-high heat.  Add the ground pork, and cook until fully browned and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.  Once fully cooked, move the pork to a clean plate, set aside.
2. In the same sauté pan, add the remaining tbsp of cooking oil, and add the chopped mushrooms.  Cook over medium-high heat until the mushrooms begin to brown and all of the water has evaporated out of the mushrooms, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and ginger to the mushrooms, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add the sliced bok choy and Chinese cabbage to the pan with the mushrooms, and cook until fully wilted down (about 5 minutes).
5. Add the cooked pork back into the pan with the veggies, along with the chopped water chestnuts.  Stir to combine, and cook until the pork has been fully heated through, about 2 minutes.
6. Add the fish sauce, salt, and gochujang sauce, stir to combine.  Taste for seasoning.
7. Remove the filling from the heat.  Serve with lettuce leaves, mint leaves, and additional hot sauce as condiments.
8. To make a roll, add the desired amount of filling to the middle of a lettuce leaf, top with mint leaves and hot sauce, and either roll into a wrap or eat like a taco.
9. Enjoy!

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