Authentic Thai Chicken Wraps. Another great segment from the todayshow.com – I can’t wait to buy this book!
Environmental activist and producer Laurie David has an idea: Over dinner. In her new book, “The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time,” David shares easy-to-prepare recipes and ideas for engaging children and teens during the most important hour of the day. Like this Thai cuisine.
For example, consider just one recipe from the book for Thai chicken wraps. David points out that kids can get involved by helping with the following tasks:
—Tearing the mint into little pieces.
—Pinching the tips and tails off the green beans.
—Washing the vegetables.
—Tasting to make sure the chicken is perfect.
Here’s the Authentic Thai Chicken Wraps recipe so you can give David’s ideas a try at home.
Authentic Thai Chicken Wraps
Ingredients
For the chicken filling:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger - grated fresh, or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ cup water - or stock
1 pound ground chicken (minced chicken)
¼ cup mint - (leaves), chopped, fresh
2 tablespoons green onions (scallions or green shallots) - sliced
1 teaspoon chili sauce - Asian chili sauce, to taste
1 medium red chili (red chilli in British English) - I used Thai chile pepper, sliced; very spicy, so optional
¼ cup lime juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce - Asian fish sauce
For the wrappings and toppings:
3 large heads iceberg lettuce - about18 whole large lettuce leaves
½ pound green beans - young and raw, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 cups bean sprouts
1 large cucumber - cut into strips with your peeler or mandoline
1 large carrot - shredded- 1 small bunch mint - cilantro, and basil
- 3 large limes - cut
- 1 small bottle chili sauce - Asian chili sauce
½ cup peanuts - chopped
For the dipping sauce:
- ¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup sugar- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup fish sauce - Asian fish sauce
- 1 clove garlic - minced
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a little bowl.
- In a medium nonstick pan, heat the vegetable oil and sauté the garlic and ginger over medium heat until light brown. Add 1/4 cup water or stock, then add the chicken and stir well, separating the chicken into small bits. This should take you about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain out the water.
- Transfer the cooked chicken to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients for the filling and mix well. Taste and season until there is a good balance among the sweet, tart, and savory flavors. You might need a bit more fish sauce, another squeeze of lemon, and a little more hot sauce.
- On a large platter, mound the vegetables, herbs, and chicken. Serve with little bowls of dipping sauce, cut limes, fish sauce, chili sauce, and chopped peanuts. At the table, fill lettuce leaves with flavorful minced chicken, vegetables, and pieces of torn herbs. Add a squeeze of lime or some peanut crunch, and roll it up.
- Serve with some steamed brown rice on the side, and you have a perfect summer dinner.
