Chinese chicken in lettuce leaf wrap with seaweed rice

Once again the inspiration has come from Matilda Ramsey on CBBC.  Although the recipe isn't listed on her blog (as far as I can see), it did feature in one of the programmes and it's a very easy and quick meal to make.  Using lettuce leaves as wraps meant it was something a little different for us as a family and made a healthy alternative to the usual bread wraps.  I made this dish for Katie as a welcome home from Uni meal - she's a big chinese/sushi/ noodles fan!


As there's no actual recipe, but I wrote down what I saw from the programme and then adapted it a little to suit what was in my cupboard.  This recipe for rice balls was Tilly's accompaniment to the chicken dish - my rice refused to turn into little balls so I served it in a bowl instead.  Loved using the seaside (and wanted to use shredded seaweed rather than seaweed snacks but had problems finding it - I ended up with seaweed sheets which wasn't quite what I was after).

Anway, this is the chicken dish:

Serves 4 as a lunch, probably double the quantities for an evening meal.

4 chicken breasts
clove or two of garlic, crushed
sprinkle of salt
2 tbsp sesame oil (I used sunflower)
good dash of hoisin sauce
good dash of soy sauce
splash of rice wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
grated fresh ginger (or teaspoon of powdered ginger)
handful of chopped coriander (optional or dessert spoon of dried coriander)
water chestnuts (for crunch) (or another veg - I used some tinned sweetcorn)
chopped spring onions
large lettuce leaves like Romaine Hearts
Cooked seaweed rice dish as an accompaniment

Place oil in a bowl and add the crushed garlic and chicken breasts.  Mix thoroughly and place on a baking tray and cook in the oven (at 180/190 deg. C) for around 20-30 minutes ensuring chicken is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to then shred the chicken.  Place the shredded chicken into a frying pan with a good dash of hoisin sauce and soy sauce.  Stir as you fry, adding the vinegar, ginger, coriander, vegetable(s) and spring onions.

Use large washed lettuce leaves (Romaine Hearts are an excellent size and shape) to hold spoonfuls of the chicken mixture, together with some seaweed rice.