spicy tofu lettuce wraps

I'm so into lettuce wraps lately, so I had to give these a try. This was in the January 2009 issue. They tasted good enough, but I don't know why you have to cook so much of the filling. Aren't lettuce wraps usually like a cool fresh salad? Anyway, if you look at the recipe, all of the ingredients (onion, tofu, water chestnuts, etc) are cooked into a brown glop, which you stuff into lettuce leaves, then top with a few fresh garnishes. I made a 1/2 recipe and ended up throwing out the leftover glop the next day. I mean, it tasted okay, but not in a lettuce wrap. I bet you could turn it into an amazing veggie burger, and instead of adding shoyu, hoisin, and sriracha sauce to the glop, make it into burger topping.
Leaving this recipe uncooked (minus the onion) would make really great lettuce wraps or spring rolls, which I already make all the time anyway. And too, you'll save having to wash a pot.
And by the way, I put on a lot of the garnishes to hide the brown glop and make the picture look nicer. Here's the recipe.