chicken lettuce wraps

Ahhh blogs.  Apparently they are not exempt to the dynamics of human personality.  I was reading recently about a huge uproar caused by some bloggers believing that others are "stealing their recipes" and posting it straight on their blogs...with a small "adapted by" line.  Can very many people really claim to have created a recipe in its entirety?  Most recipes out there are usually an adaptation at the least and even if we think we've created a new one, well, someone else has probably tried those twists too. I really don't get the drama.  I could see the frustration with creating a unique and popular concept and having others post it without linking back to to your site. That's just courtesy.   And if we've used another blog to find a recipe, then followed the recipe precisely and decided to post it, I'd agree that a link back to the original poster is appropriate.   I think adaptations outside of changing the vanilla from 1 tsp to 1.5 tsps, are indeed adaptations though, and pretty fair in the recipe world.

Let's take for instance a recipe that I found in my Food Network magazine for a version of PF Chang's lettuce wraps.  I'd clipped the recipe and finally got around to making it.  Of course, I made adaptations.  I cut a the oyster sauce in half, changed the veggies, added some honey to the sauce, cut the cornstarch,  etc.  I was going to say this recipe was an adaptation of the FN recipe...I think that's pretty fair.  Then I went back on my blog and saw that aside from the oyster sauce, these wraps are more similar to the lettuce wraps I posted a few years ago with the most atrocious photo.  So really, would it be an adaptation of my recipe?  Where did I get the idea for that recipe?  Did FN adapt my recipe for their magazine?  Can you see in that last question the ridiculousness of claiming that a recipe is stolen?  And really, don't most food bloggers blog to share recipes? That's just my two cents. 

Chicken lettuce wraps are pretty phenomenal even if the recipe is stolen from 13th century Mongol tribes.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

adapted from: who knows

Ingredients

For the Chicken:
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

For the Stir-Fry Sauce:
1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tbsp honey

For the Stir-Fry:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup shredded carrots

Small lettuce leaves, for serving

Soy sauce and sweet chili sauce

Directions

1. Prepare the chicken: Dice chicken and toss with sherry Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
2. Make the stir-fry sauce: Whisk 1/3 cup water, the oyster, hoisin and soy sauces,  then whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved.
3. Make the stir-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add  in the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and  then add  stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the carrots and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce  and cook 1 minute.
4. Serve chicken with lettuce leaves and soy sauce and or sweet chili sauce for dipping.