hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series on Panda Express Hacks with a shot at their string bean chicken, which we’re gonna deconstruct, and then see if we can’t amp it up a bit with some of my favorite additions drawn from more traditional Chinese wok cooking. For those not familiar, Panda Express’ string bean chicken features (as you might guess) string beans (or green beans, depending on who you ask), sweet white onion, and a bit of chicken breast done in a fairly mild “ginger soy sauce,” (or at least, that’s what they call it). To me of course, ginger and soy sauce are in most Chinese stir fries already, so that sauce could very well be really anything.

So, I’m taking a bit of liberty with my attempt here, and adding a couple of ingredients to bring out a little bit more savory umami and heat, with a couple of ingredients that you’ll likely recognize from some of our more traditional recipes. This is mainly gonna be done with the addition of dark soy sauce, black bean paste, and my favorite combination of heat elements, some Chinese doubanjiang, and spicy chili crisp or “lao gan ma.” Hope you try it.

Bookmark the recipe here, bookmark the stream here, and pick up the ingredients below if you want to follow along and cook dinner with me.

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 medium chicken thighs

• 6-8 oz green beans

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp (about 1 inch) ginger

• 1/2 medium sweet white onion

• 2 tbsp corn starch + water (corn starch slurry)

• peanut oil or vegetable oil

INGREDIENTS (marinade)

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

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce

• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1/2 tsp corn starch

• pinch kosher salt

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

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

• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 2 tbsp black bean paste

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp doubanjiang

• 1 tbsp lao gan ma

• 1/4 cup stock