I am using minced pigeon or dove meat here, which is traditional, but really any meat will work. Grace Young, whose book Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge is the inspiration for this recipe, uses ground pork.
1 to 6Thai chiles, sliced thin(depending on your heat tolerance)
1 1/2cupsdiced jicama or water chestnuts
1cupdiced carrot
Salt and white pepper
4scallions, sliced thin
1tablespoonsesame oil
Boston or bibb lettuce leaves
Hoisin sauce to taste
Instructions
Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them. Cover and let them rehydrate while you cut everything else, starting with the meat.
Mix the corn starch and the Shaoxing wine together in a bowl. Once the meat has been cut, add it to the bowl and mix well. Set aside while you cut everything else. Dice the mushrooms, too.
Heat a wok set over high heat for a minute or so. Add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil to the wok and swirl it around. The moment you see a wisp of smoke rise, add the meat. Spread it out in the wok in one layer and let it sit undisturbed for 1 minute. Now stir fry it for another minute or so, until almost all the pink color is done. Remove the meat from the wok and set it aside.
Add the other tablespoon of peanut oil to the wok. The moment it starts to smoke, add the garlic and chiles and stir fry a few seconds, until you can smell them. Add the diced jicama, mushrooms and carrot and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the meat and any collected juices back to the wok. Sprinkle everything with salt and white pepper and stir fry 1 more minute.
Mix in the chopped scallions and turn off the heat. Drizzle the sesame oil over everything.
Lay down a little hoisin sauce on each lettuce leave, then spoon some of the stir fry on it. Eat them like tacos.