Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (41 page)

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Authors: Todd Wilbur

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P. F. CHANG’S GARLIC SNAP PEAS
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Stir-fried with garlic.”
 
This is a standard side dish at the country’s hottest Chinese dinner chain, and it’ll take you just a couple minutes to duplicate at home as a good veggie side for any entrée, Chinese or otherwise. It’s especially good when you’re pressed to slam together a last-minute vegetable to go with tonight’s dinner. You can certainly stay traditional and use a wok for this, but I always just use a medium-size nonstick skillet. The trick is to saute the snap peas quickly over pretty high heat, tossing often, until they’re hot, yet still crispy and bright green. You get the garlic in right at the end, and then quickly pop it off the heat so the garlic doesn’t scorch. You don’t want anyone getting “bitter garlic face.”
2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
⅛
teaspoon salt
dash ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1. Prepare snap peas by cutting off the tips on each end of the pods.
2. Preheat oil in a wok or medium skillet over medium/high heat.
3. Saute snap peas in oil with salt and black pepper for 2½ to 3 minutes, tossing often, until peas are cooked, but still crispy.
The pods should begin to get a few dark brown scorched spots developing on them when they’re done. Add minced garlic, toss a bit more, then immediately pour the snap peas out onto a serving platter. If you keep the garlic in too long it could burn and get bitter on you, so don’t leave it in the hot pan for any longer than about 10 seconds.
 
• SERVES 2 TO 4.
P. F. CHANG’S CHANG’S SPICY CHICKEN
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Lightly dusted, stir-fried in a sweet Szechwan sauce. (Our version of General Chu’s.)”
 
The sweet and spicy zing in the secret sauce sets this recipe apart as one of P. F. Chang’s top picks. If you’re looking for something simple to make with those chicken breasts sitting in the fridge, this is a good choice. Once the sauce is finished all you have to do is saute your chicken and combine. And you’ll probably want to make up a little white or brown rice, like at the restaurant. If you can’t find straight chili sauce for this recipe, the more common chili sauce with garlic in it will work just as well.
SAUCE
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
(3 to 4 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped green
onions (about 3 onions)
1 cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons chili sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon cornstarch
 
1 cup vegetable oil
2 skinless chicken breast fillets
⅓ cup cornstarch
1. Make the sauce by heating 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in medium saucepan. Saute the garlic and onion in the oil for just a few seconds, not allowing the ingredients to burn, then quickly add the pineapple juice, followed by chili sauce, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce.
2. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons water and add it to the other ingredients in the saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and continue to simmer on medium/high heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick and syrupy.
3. Heat I cup vegetable oil in a wok or a medium saucepan over medium heat.
4. While oil heats up, chop chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, toss chicken pieces with cornstarch until dusted.
5. Saute coated chicken in the hot oil, stirring occasionally, until light brown. Remove chicken to a rack or paper towels to drain for a moment. Pour chicken into a medium bowl, add sauce and toss well to coat chicken. Serve immediately with rice on the side.
• Serves 2.
P. F. CHANG’S DAN-DAN
NOODLES
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Scallions, garlic and chili peppers stir-fried with ground chicken nesting on hot egg noodles. Garnished with shredded cucumber and bean sprouts.”
 
To clone P. F. Chang’s take on this traditional Chinese noodle dish you should use a wok, but I found that a large saucepan works well too. Saute a couple chicken breasts ahead of time and give them a chance to cool so you can finely mince them up. The menu says the chicken is “ground” but it’s actually more of a fine mince. Get out the cleaver, if you’ve got one, and chop away. Or just use a big chef’s knife. You can prepare the chicken ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to make the dish. Once you’ve got the chicken hacked up, you’ll have tasty noodles on the table in less than 10 minutes.
2 skinless chicken breast fillets,
cooked and minced
(approx. 2 cups)
1 6-ounce pkg. chow mein
noodles, cooked
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¼
cup chopped green onions
(green part only)
6 tablespoons soy sauce
½
cup chicken broth
¼
cup dark brown sugar
1
teaspoon chili-garlic sauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch
½
cup water
GARNISH
½
cup julienned English cucumber
½ cup bean sprouts
1. Cook chicken fillets first by simply sautéing them in a skillet in a little oil for 10 to 12 minutes. Let the chicken fillets cool, and then mince them into little bits with a sharp knife.
2. Prepare noodles following the directions on the package: boil noodles for 3 to 5 minutes in 8 to 10 cups water
3. Make sauce by heating oil over medium heat in a saucepan or wok. Add garlic and green onion and saute for just a few seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar and chili-garlic sauce. Combine the cornstarch with ½ cup water and stir it into the sauce. Simmer sauce for about 2 minutes or until it thickens.
4. When the sauce is thick, add the chicken and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Pile cooked noodles onto a serving plate. Spoon chicken and sauce over the top of the noodles, then garnish with julienned cucumber on one side and bean sprouts on the other
• SERVES 4.
P. F. CHANG’S LEMON PEPPER SHRIMP
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Stir-fried with chives and bean sprouts,”
 
Chefs at P F. Chang’s China Bistro cook most dishes in heavy woks over extremely high heat with sparks flying and flames nipping at their noses. The special stove is designed so that the tall fires work at the back end of the wok, away from the chef The well-ventilated stove is built with a steady stream of running water nearby to thin sauces and rinse the woks after each dish is prepared. Since we don’t have those phat, bad-boy stoves at home, the challenge is to tweak the recipe for standard kitchen equipment. Using a gas stove and a wok will get you the best duplicate, but this recipe can be knocked off nicely with a large skillet, if that’s all you’ve got. Things are moving fast back in those P. F. Chang’s kitchens. The chefs are well-trained, but they eyeball measurements for sauces with a ladle, so each wok-prepared dish is going to come out a little different. Considering this, I figured the best way to get a good clone would be to order the dish several times. I averaged the flavors by combining several batches of sauce (requesting extra on the side) into one large bowl, and then used that mixture to create the recipe. This technique works great for recipes like this one where the sauce is key, and measurements at the restaurant aren’t exactly scientific. The shrimp is lightly breaded—they use potato starch, but cornstarch is a good substitute—and flash fried in oil. Strain the shrimp out of the oil, add it back to the pan with the sauce, and you’ve got yourself a clone.
SAUCE
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped
garlic
½
teaspoon minced
ginger
cup soy sauce
cup
water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons coarse grind black
pepper
 
I pound medium raw shrimp
(31/40
count), shelled and
deveined
½
cup cornstarch
1
cup vegetable oil
4 thin lemon slices, each cut into
quarters

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