Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin-Peanut Sauce

Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin-Peanut Sauce (slightly adapted from My Recipes, Servings: 4, Total Time: )

Ingredients

Sauce:

·         1 tsp. canola oil

·         1 Tbsp. minced shallot

·         1/3 cup water

·         2 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter

·         4 tsp. hoisin sauce

·         1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper

·         1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

Filling:

·         1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled

·         1 Tbsp. dark sesame oil

·         6 thinly sliced green onions (about 2/3 cup), divided (I used white parts only)

·         2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

·         3 Tbsp. lower-sodium soy sauce

·         1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

·         2 tsp. sugar

·         ½ tsp. Sriracha

·         1 cup matchstick-cut cucumbers

·         1 cup matchstick-cut carrots

·         2 cups hot cooked sticky rice

·         8 Bibb lettuce leaves

Directions

1.      To prepare filling, spread crumbled tofu in a single layer on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 20 minutes, pressing down occasionally.

2.      To prepare sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallot, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper), and stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice.

3.      After tofu is relatively dry, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 1/3 cup green onions; sauté 1 minute. Add tofu; sauté for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cilantro, soy sauce, ginger, sugar, and Sriracha; sauté 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in cucumbers, carrots, and remaining green onions.

4.      Spoon some rice and tofu mixture into each lettuce wrap. Serve with sauce.

These tasted pretty darn good and my husband liked them.  Before starting the dish, I froze the tofu overnight and then let it thaw – to give it a more “meaty” texture.  I also used brown rice instead of sticky rice because our local grocery store didn’t have sticky rice.  I will say that that amount rice is WAY too much for this recipe.  I am going to have so much leftover!  I also used bottled instead of fresh lime juice for the sauce – I did not notice any issues with the taste.  One thing that I would recommend if you make this recipe – mix the soy sauce and Sriracha together before adding to the tofu and pour it in SLOWLY.  I wasn’t thinking too straight and just threw them in separately – obviously resulting in the tofu at the source of the throw absorbing way more soy sauce or Sriracha than the other parts of the dish. 

I liked the texture of this dish – the lettuce I used was still crispy, as were the carrots and cucumbers.  It was nice to have a soft and crunchy mixture in each bite.  In the original recipe, they advise to use ¼ cup rice and ½ cup tofu mix in each wrap – I think that would overload the wrap, so I just added what looked right so that I could have a nice little pocket.  I think this is a great way to mix veggies, starch, and protein, and, if you are careful with the sauce, it is low calorie.  The tofu mixture was a nice mix of sweet and salty.  The sauce is pretty sweet, and adds a nice zing to the wrap.  I could not taste the peanut butter at all – I think that hoisin sauce took over!  I definitely recommend trying this recipe – it is a flavor explosion in each bite (unless you get all lettuce!).