Chinese Minced Chicken with Cabbage (or Chicken in Lettuce Wraps)

This is a version of  the minced chicken in lettuce wraps sold as an appetizer in Chinese restaurants.  I have just added cabbage and carrots to this dish to make it a 1 pot meal. I used the soy chun (oyster flavored soy sauce, available at Whole Foods) for flavoring the dish. It is a sweet thick soy sauce, not unlike kecap manis, but any thick sweet soy sauce will do.   This dish makes no claims to being the “real deal”, but the taste comes pretty close.  Serve with lettuce leaves as an appetizer or eat as a main course with rice.

Ingredients

3 ½ tbs. vegetable oil divided

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ inch ginger, minced

1-2 thai bird peppers (optional).

1.5 lbs ground chicken

½ cup sliced carrots

1 tsp salt, divided (adjust according to taste)

4 tbs. oyster flavored sauce (soy chun)

1 small cabbage (about 3-4 cups, shredded in the food processor)

¼ cup cilantro, minced

Heat 1.5 tbs. of oil in a cast iron wok, till hot (use a thin-walled wok, where the temperatures get nice and high).  Add the peppers, garlic and ginger and stir till fragrant- 1 min at high heat.  Then add the carrots and the ground chicken.  Stir fry the carrots and the chicken till fully browned- this takes about 5 min.  Add 2 tbs. of the soychun, taste, adjust the salt, then remove from the wok.

Add 2 tbs. of oil to the wok.  When hot, add the shredded cabbage and stir fry at high heat till cabbage is somewhere in the transition zone between soft and crunchy, about 10 min.  Add salt  (1/2 tsp or to taste) and 2 tbs. of soy chun.  Then add in the chicken-carrot mix to the cabbage and stir fry for 1-2 min. to meld the flavors. Taste and adjust the salt and add more soy chun if needed.  Stir in the cilantro and serve.