hello! hi everyone. Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to deconstructing Americanized Chinese cuisine with a shot at the Chang’s Spicy Chicken, from PF Chang’s. For those new to the channel, in this series, we have been deconstructing iconically Americanized dishes from Chinese cuisine, and seeing what it might look like if we were to cook the dish through the lens of more traditional Chinese wok cooking. What stood out to me about this particular dish though (aside from the fact that it is of course, the namesake of the restaurant), is that they actually tell you how to make this dish on the menu, with a itemized ingredient breakdown and everything, which is useful. 

Most notably, this means that we’re going to be making use of some potato starch, to make some chicken karaage style chicken. But! Also what stood out to me is that their menu specifically calls for chili paste and dark soy sauce, the latter of which is notorious for biasing the color of your stir fry, and if you hadn’t noticed, the chicken in photo on their menu is…not dark at all. So…let’s see what’s up with that. Hope you try it. 

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 3 green onions

  • 3 medium chicken thighs

  • 1 cup potato starch

  • peanut oil

  • 64 oz fryer oil

INGREDIENTS (marinade)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

INGREDIENTS (glaze)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1 tbsp doubanjiang

  • 4 tbsp sweet chili sauce

  • 4 tbsp honey

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince 4 cloves of garlic, set aside

  • MINCE ginger, set aside

  • SEPARATE the whites and greens of the green onions, then slice thinly, set aside

  • LARGE DICE the chicken, set aside

  • COMBINE all marinade ingredients, then marinate for 30 minutes

  • DRAIN as much marinade liquid as possible, then combine with 1/2 cup potato starch

  • COAT the chicken in an additional 1/2 cup of potato starch 1 piece at a time, set aside

  • COMBINE all glaze ingredients, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT the fryer to 350F, then fry the chicken for an initial 1-2 minutes until lightly golden

  • REMOVE the chicken and rest for 5 minutes, then reheat the fryer and add the chicken back to the fryer for a second 3-5 minute fry until golden brown

  • REMOVE the fryer oil, reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the garlic, ginger, and whites of the green onions, then saute for 15 seconds until fragrant

  • ADD the glaze mixture and reduce with constant agitation until a syrupy consistency forms

  • ADD the chicken, turn off the heat, and quickly toss to combine

  • FINISH with the greens of the green onions

 

tagged with pf changs, p.f. chang's, chang's spicy chicken, fried chicken, chinese fried chicken, fried chicken recipe, deep frying, chinese cooking, woo can cook