Thai Chicken Wraps

One product you are going to need is red curry paste.  You should be able to find it in the Asain section of your grocery store.  There are other brands out there.  I purchased this Mae Ploy brand at an Asian market.  it’s a pretty large container, but I’ll use it.  It’s got a little heat to it, but not too bad.  It adds great flavor to this recipe.  Don’t skimp and leave it out.  You’ll be sad. 

This is really quite simple to make.  You will need about 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, red curry paste, fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and salt.

Cut the chicken breasts into 1/2-inch strips.

Well maybe 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick.

Put the chicken strips into a bowl or ziplock bag.  Set it aside for a bit.

Roughly chop 1 cups of fresh cilantro.

Put the cilantro into the bowl of the beautiful food processor that your husband bought you.  You know I have four Cuisinart food processors right now.  They need to quit redesigning them.  Because I HAVE to have the new and improved model.  Let me tell you this is my favorite model so far…ya I know who cares.

Add the brown sugar…

…red curry paste…

…red pepper flakes…

…salt (I really like Kosher)…

…and lime juice.  Now pulse it several times in the food processor.

Pour the marinade over the chicken strips.

Toss the chicken with your hands to make sure you get all the chicken strips coated with the marinade.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.  Because this has lime juice in it, I wouldn’t marinate overnight.  The lime juice will create a different texture.  It begins to cook the chicken???

Now we are going to make the peanut sauce to drizzle over the wraps.  You will need soy sauce, water, shallots, red curry paste, peanut butter, brown sugar, lime juice, garlic and ginger.

Here is a picture of the soy sauce and red curry paste again.  Just in case you forgot.

No need to wash the food processor bowl.  We are going to just mix in the same bowl.

In the same food processor bowl, add the lime juice…

…red curry paste…

…peanut butter…

…soy sauce…

…water…

…chopped ginger.

This is the garlic and shallot.  Shallots are purple in color.  They are smaller than onions and larger than garlic.  They have a onion/garlic flavor. 

Roughly chop the shallot.

Smash the garlic with a knive.

Then chop.

Add to the sauce.

Oops, I forgot to add the shallots.  Do that…now.

Turn on the food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour the sauce into a serving bowl.

Now you will need a head of bibb lettuce.  I like to use the bibb lettuce because it is soft and folds nicely around the chicken.  You will, also, need a red pepper, a carrot and a cucumber.

Wash the bibb lettuce.  Spin it dry, if you have a salad spinner.  Or just lay out on a towel to dry.  Love the lettuce spinner.  It sure makes my life a bit easier with all the greens I wash.

Slice the red pepper into strips.  Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the pepper into strips.  Ugh!  You get it, right?

Now cut a 3-inch piece of the cucumber.

Cut the cucumber into slices horizontally. 

Now cut the cucumber into strips.

Finely shredd the peeled carrot.

The fixings are now ready for the chicken wraps. 

Now let’s grill the chicken strips.  You can do this on a grill pan on your stove top or under your broiler.  I grill year round, so you know what I’m doing. 

Place the strips of chicken on a hot grill.  After about a minute and a half turn them over.

It only takes a few minutes to grill the chicken strips.  So don’t walk away for very long or they will be over cooked.

Remove the chicken strips from the grill and place on a serving platter.

How to assemble the Thai Chicken Wraps:  Take one of the bibb lettuce leaves and place a strip of chicken on it.  Add red pepper strips, cucumber strips and shredded carrots.  Top with the peanut sauce.

Now eat.  I like to drizzle on enough of the peanut sauce so that it runs down my arm and drips off of my elbow. 

You can serve these wraps as an appetizer or a meal.  We generally eat the Thai Chicken Wraps with potstickers.  I will definitely share that recipe in the future.

Thai Chicken Wraps

Chicken marinade:

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, packed
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon red curry paste,
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon salt

Cut chicken into 1-inch strips.

In the bowl of a food processor add cilantro, brown sugar, lime juice, red curry paste, pepper flakes and salt. Process until smooth. Pour over chicken , toss to coat, and marinate at least 30 minutes.

Peanut Sauce:

2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon red curry paste
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup water
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 lbs. boneless, skinless Chicken breasts
16 Boston or bibb lettuce leaves
1 red pepper sliced into strips
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cucumber, sliced into strips

In the same food processor bowl (it’s not necessary to wash the bowl) add brown sugar, lime juice, curry paste, peanut butter, water, shallots, ginger and garlic. Process until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl

On a hot grill or griddle pad or oven broiler, cook chicken until browned and cooked through. About 4-6 minutes.

To serve, wrap a lettuce leaf around 2 strips of chicken, add bell pepper, shredded carrots, cucumber. Drizzle with sauce.  Makes enough for 16 wraps.

 
A perfect meal for my family would be Thai Chicken Wraps, Potstickers and Tempura with a variety of sauces.  Served with steamed vegies and rice. 
 
We sit around the table and assemble our wraps, dip the potstickers and tempura in our favorite sauce and chat.    Sometimes we chat for a couple of hours. 
 
This meal must be served  with chop sticks, which the husband that never reads this blog refuses to use and always gets up from the table to get a fork!!!