This chicken lettuce cup appetizer is simple to make and can be made the day before which makes for a great party recipe. Try this easy chicken lettuce cup appetizer recipe and let me know what you think in the Chinese food forum found here. Enjoy!

To watch a video of these instructions click here.

3 breasts char siu chicken (click here for the recipe)
1 stalk celery
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
¼ tsp salt
1 head iceberg lettuce

1. Chop the chicken breasts into ¼ inch pieces and place them in a bowl.


2. Cut the base and about ¼ inch off the top of the celery stalk. Then rinse it under cold running water and dry it thoroughly. Cut it on a diagonal into thin slices and place them in the bowl with the chicken.


3. Mix the chicken and the celery thoroughly together and then add the hoisin sauce, sesame oil and salt. Stir everything together and then set this filling aside while preparing the lettuce cups.


4. Remove the outer most leaves of the head of lettuce. Cut the head directly in half. Then cut each half in half again so that there are four triangular shaped wedges.


5. Next cut off the stem on each of the wedges. Then remove the center leaves from each wedge so that you have the outer leaves in the shape of triangle cups.


6. Now depending on the size of the head of lettuce, some of these cups may be a bit large. To make them smaller you can simply cut the sides. Try to keep the triangular shape and “cupped” shape while trimming them. Also try to get a small compact head of lettuce for this recipe.


7. Once the lettuce is cut it’s time to fill the cups. Place some of the mixture inside the lettuce leaf, about 1 ½ teaspoons. Then using a toothpick slowly push it through the lettuce and the filling while holding it into a triangular shape. Make sure to push it through to the other side. This will help keep everything together as if in a little “cup.” Long decorative toothpicks work best for this recipe.


8. Finish filling the remaining cups and then they are ready to serve. If you are making this ahead of time simply cover them with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator. Makes 8 to 10 cups, depending on the size of the lettuce.