Szechuan Chicken Lettuce Wraps With Spicy Mayo Cactus Club Copycat Food

SZECHUAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS WITH SPICY MAYO (CACTUS CLUB COPYCAT)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cooking pan with foil and spray or brush with cooking oil.
• In a medium skillet, heat sesame oil over medium heat. Add panko breadcrumbs and cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring continuously until the breadcrumbs start to brown. Be careful not to burn them, you only want them to slightly turn a golden colour. Remove from heat and mix in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and set aside.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg and mayonnaise together. Pour mixture into a shallow dish and set aside. Place flour into another shallow dish and set aside.
• Fully coat each chicken strip with flour, then with egg, and lastly with the panko breadcrumb mixture.
• Place the coated chicken strips onto your cooking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and no longer pink inside.
• Place chicken strips into a large bowl and add chow mein noodles, green onions, cilantro, peanuts, and sweet chili sauce. Toss to coat.
• Transfer chicken mixture into serving dish and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Add lime wedges.
• In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, hot sauce, and lime juice together.
• Serve spicy mayo on the side or drizzle on top of chicken mixture.

ALMOST-FAMOUS CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

Steps:

• Prepare the chicken: Whisk the egg white, cornstarch and rice wine in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Make the stir-fry sauce: Whisk 1/3 cup water, the oyster, hoisin and soy sauces, the rice wine and sesame oil in a bowl, then whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved.
• Fry the noodles: Pull the noodles apart into sections. Heat 3/4 inch peanut oil in a medium saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer registers 380 degrees F. Working in batches, press the noodles into the oil with a spatula until they puff, 5 to 10 seconds. Drain on paper towels.
• Make the stir-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the skillet; when almost smoking, stir in the garlic, ginger, jalapeno and minced scallions, then add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the sugar and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, water chestnuts and scallion pieces and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce and chicken and cook 1 minute. Make a bed of noodles on a platter and top with the chicken mixture. Serve the noodles and stir-fry with lettuce leaves and soy sauce for dipping. Photograph by Andrew Mccaul

SPICY SZECHUAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

Steps:

• Split boneless chicken in half. If too thick, pound out to make thinner.
• In a medium bowl, mix together radish, carrots, bean sprouts, and scallions. Add Szechwan sauce.
• In a small bowl, mix together five-spice, cayenne, salt and pepper. Season chicken breasts lightly with rub. Cut the chicken into strips.
• In a large skillet over high heat, add the grapeseed oil. Once hot, sear the chicken breasts for 4 minutes on each side. Add butter and lemon to pan and baste the chicken for another minute. Remove chicken to a platter to let cool. Once cooled, dice or shred the chicken.
• Place a spoonful of the vegetable mixture and the shredded chicken onto each leaf of lettuce. Roll and serve.

SPICY SZECHUAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the 5 spice powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and black pepper together. Set aside.
• Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise, and pound out in between two sheets of plastic wrap. This is to ensure even cooking.
• Sprinkle on spice mixture evenly on both sides of the chicken breasts, lightly patting "rub" onto the chicken.
• Heat oil in pan over medium high/high heat and fry chicken until lightly browned. (If your breasts are pounded out thin, it should not take too long to cook.) Put a little bit of butter (about 1/2 tbsp) on the top of each chicken breast, and drizzle lemon juice as well, for extra flavor. Flip chicken breasts over to cook the other side and repeat process.
• Once the chicken has been fully cooked, remove from heat and place onto a platter and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
• While the chicken is resting, prepare the slaw mix. Peel and wash your carrots and daikon radish. If you have a mandolin, you may use that to slice the carrots. Otherwise, thinly slice the carrots and daikon into julienned strips.
• In another bowl, combine the carrots, daikon, diced green onions, bean sprouts, and Szechuan sauce together.
• Thinly slice the chicken breasts. You can either slice them into strips or dice them, depending on your preference.
• Arrange a little of the slaw mix and the chicken onto each bib lettuce cup. If you are unable to find bib lettuce, you can try using regular iceberg lettuce cups instead.
• If you are serving this as an appetizer, it should serve about 4-6 people.