P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps Secrets Revealed

today I'll show you the correct recipe for PF Chang's legendary chicken lettuce wraps we'll go over the precise ingredients they use at the restaurant I'll reveal the signature Umami sauce recipe that makes their chicken so Savory and I'll show you how to make PF Chang's special dipping sauce from scratch now this is a surprisingly simple dish to make but there are a lot of components and sauces so I'll walk you through each step and we'll assemble all the necessary building blocks before the final cooking first up is the Umami sauuce in pf chain uses this

to flavor the chicken meat and give it a deep rich savoriness it's very simple to make but before we get started I'll give you a super quick rundown of the exact ingredients you'll need for the sauce for the rice wine pfchangs uses a style called meu this is a very popular choice for cooking wine in many Cantonese and Taiwanese kitchens it's very similar to the more popular xaing wine and while there are some subtle differences flavor-wise they are essentially interchangeable you should be able to find mitu at most Asian grocery stores and it is available

on Amazon but if you're not able to locate it just grab a bottle of shaing for the oyster sauce pfchangs uses leeum key Panda brand oyster flavored sauce in the green bottle and this is the gluten-free version with no added MSG all of leom Key's oyster sauces are fit for human consumption but if you're able to find their premium oyster sauce the one with the picturesque scene of a mother and son serenely Gathering a harvest of oversized oysters in the Chinese country side on the label this is the one I recommend to color the sauce

pfchangs uses leom Keys mushroom flavored dark soy sauce if you're not familiar with dark soy sauce it's typically added to dishes more for color and less for flavor but mushroom soy sauce has the added benefit of mushroom seasoning for extra savoriness you should be able to find some version of a mushroom soy sauce at most Asian grocery stores to make the Umami sauce let's start by adding 1 tbspoon of oyster sauce to a small bowl then toss in 1 tbsp of meu cooking wine 1 tbsp of mushroom dark soy sauce 1 tbsp of white sugar

and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper whisk until the sugar is totally dissolved and this is it this is the savory sauce PF Changs uses to flavor the chicken for their lettuce wraps then transfer the sauce to a covered container and you can store it in the fridge for up to a week next up is the sauce they serve with the lettuce wraps this is a variation of PF chanks pot sticker sauce they call Special Sauce later in the video I'll also show you how to make their housemade chili oil and the hot mustard sauce but

before that let me show you a couple of special ingredients we'll need to make the Special Sauce correctly the first is Chinese hot mustard and you should be able to find this at most grocery stores it'll come in little bottles like these and you can use it straight out of the jar at the restaurant they use a powdered version like this one from SNB and to prepare it you'll need to mix equal parts mustard powder with cold water and let it sit for about 20 to 30 minutes and always remember with Chinese hot mustard powder

the longer it sits the hotter it gets and after it's reconstituted you can use this just like the prepared version next up is chili garlic sauce the exact brand pfchangs uses is hoong and I want you to notice you'll often find this condiment loitering next to its metalling cousin Sall Ole either will work fine for the Special Sauce they're essentially the same product with the only difference being that chili garlic sauce has garlic and Sall ol does not we'll also need to pick up a bottle of unseasoned rice vinegar if you've ever wondered what the

difference is between seasoned and unseasoned rice vinegar essentially it's just that the seasoned variety has salt and sugar whereas the unseasoned version does not and finally for the exact soy sauce used at the restaurant pick up a bottle of leom keys low sodium soy sauce in the green bottle now to make the Special Sauce let's start with 5 taspo of white sugar in a small pot then add 1/4 cup of water three 3 tbsp of light soy sauce 1 tbsp of unseasoned rice vinegar 2 tpoon of chili garlic sauce and 2 teaspoons of Chinese hot

mustard then turn the heat on to medium and continue whisking until you've achieved a light simmer and all the sugar has totally dissolved then turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before using and you can keep the Special Sauce in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week for the meat PF Changs uses ground chicken and you should be able to find this at most grocery stores if you can't ground turkey also works well one of the things a lot of online lettuce wrap recipes Miss is

the addition of rehydrated shitake mushrooms to the chicken mixture I think this is because the Umami sauce makes the chicken so dark they don't see it but they're definitely there and you'll be able to find dried chake mushrooms at most Asian grocery stores they'll come in bags like these we'll need to reconstitute them in hot water before using so to get started place the mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with hot water for about 20 to 30 minutes then drain the mushrooms and gently squeeze them to remove the excess water cut off the stems

which can be kind of tough then roughly chop the mushrooms into small chunks and set them aside to complete the chicken mixture we'll also need water chestnuts this will add a nice fresh crunch to the lettuce wraps and you should be able to find water chestnuts at most grocery stores in little cans like these I always get the ones that say sliced and you'll just need to drain and roughly chop them into little pieces like these and you can store the chopped chestnuts in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week to

cook the chicken let's start with some neutral oil in a large pot over medium high heat once you're up to Temp add 8 oz of ground chicken and you'll really want to cook the chicken until it's totally done breaking it up along the way with your spatula or a potato masher you want really small pieces of chicken and not big chunks about 2 to 3 minutes before the chicken is done add 2 tbsp of chopped water chestnuts and 2 tbspoon of chopped re dehydrated shitake mushrooms cook until the chicken mixture is totally done then remove

it from the Heat and allow it to cool to room temperature before using and you can make this a day or two in advance just make sure to keep it refrigerated the entire time for the lettuce what you want to look for is whole iceberg lettuce to prepare it you'll simply remove the outer layers which tend to be kind of limp and Droopy then make a cut directly down the middle of the lettuce cutting it in half now take each half and cut them lengthwise into quarters then take each quarter and remove the core of

the lettuce like this if you've ever tried to make lettuce wraps and had difficulty getting nice uniform cups what you want to do is peel the outer layers of the lettuce off under cold running water for some reason this makes it much easier to peel them off in whole layers we'll really only be using the outer leaves so you can save the inner core of the lettuce for a salad or whatever and one of the things they do at the restaurant is to shock the lettuce in ice water for about 30 minutes this really perks

up the leaves and keeps them crunchier for much longer and just make sure to dry them off before using you can keep the lettuce in large Ziploc bags lined with paper towels like this in the fridge for about 5 to 7 days now for the rice sticks these are just rice noodles that have been deep fried so they puff up to look like packing material they're really easy to make but there are a couple of things you'll need to get right to do it correctly first off at most Asian grocery stores you'll find these labeled

as rice vermicelli rice sticks or me fun they're all variations of the same thing thin rice noodles but I've consistent L gotten the best results with three ladies brand Vietnamese rice vermicelli in the medium size to make them at home let's start by heating our oil to 425 to 450° F and I know this seems very hot but if you fry rice noodles at lower temperatures they tend not to puff up as quickly which causes them to absorb a lot of oil and turn a weird shade of brown so make sure you're using a high

smoke point oil then take your Bunches of rice noodles and pull the strands apart now tear each of these small smaller batches into about 1 in sticks like this because they puff up so much during the cooking you want to make sure you're doing this in very small batches when you're up to Temp toss in a small handful of the rice noodle pieces and they should puff up immediately this cooking process typically takes just a few seconds then remove them from the oil to drain on a baking sheet lined with paper towels and once these

are cooled off you should be able to store them in a covered container at room temperature for a couple of days for the final cooking you want to make sure you have all your ingredients assembled beforehand because the meat is already cooked the final dish comes together in a matter of just a couple of minutes and we'll go over everything you need while we're making it but before we start I need to tell you about a couple of specialty ingredients we'll need to make this dish correctly the first is dehydrated minced garlic and you should

be able to find this at most grocery stores in the spice aisle this is minced garlic that has been dried so it has no moisture in it but why does PF Changs use this special type of garlic firstly it doesn't burn and stick to the hot pans as easily as fresh garlic and secondly it offers a slightly smoother and more concentrated garlic flavor to prepare it you'll just need to reconstitute it in hot water for about 20 to 30 minutes and then drain it of all the water before using and you can keep this in

the fridge for about a week and use it anytime you need minced garlic and the last specialty ingredient will need is sesame oil PF Changs uses this as a finishing oil because of its Rich nutty flavor you'll see several different types at most Asian grocery stores but what you want to look for is pure sesame oil if you can only find toasted sesame oil that will work but the brand PF Changs uses is leum key pure sesame oil now to start the cooking let's heat some neutral oil in a walk over medium high heat when

you're up to Temp toss in 1 teaspoon of the rehydrated garlic and cook for about 10 to 15 seconds then add 2 tablespoons of chopped scallion whites and 8 oz of the prepared chicken mixture cook for about 30 seconds or just until the chicken is heated through then toss in 1/4 cup of the Umami sauce stir it into the chicken mixture until it's totally absorbed usually about 30 to 45 seconds then sprinkle in 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil around the rim of the walk and stir it into the chicken Now kill the heat to

serve you'll simply prepare a plate with some rice noodles iceberg lettuce wedges and the Special Sauce then spoon the chicken mixture over the rice noodles and this is it this is the actual recipe for PF Chang's legendary lettuce wraps now very quickly before our taste test I want to show you how to make the other two sauces usually serve tableside at pfchangs for the hot mustard sauce all you'll do is take four parts of prepared hot Chinese mustard and one part white vinegar and mix them together then you'll thin it out with a bit of

water to get the right consistency it should be slightly runny and that's it for the hot mustard sauce super easy secondly for the chili oil this is also easy to make but it's a bit more involved and it requires a few specialty ingredients so the first thing you'll need is sichan chili flakes you'll often find these labeled as sesan chili powder what you want to look for is a Chinese pepper that has been crushed so it still has pieces of actual pepper in it it's not totally a powder in other words and it will come

in bags like these and the last specialty ingredient we'll need is dried Chinese black beans and please note these are not the same thing as dried black beans you'll find in a western grocery store these are actually salted and dried black s beans they have a sort of funky Umami flavor that's hard to describe they're the main ingredient in the very popular black bean sauce they'll come in little bags like these and they shouldn't be hard they should be slightly squishy when you pinch them between your fingers now to start the chili oil add half

a cup of neutral frying oil to a small pot then toss in 1 tbspoon of sesame oil 1 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon of Sichuan chili flakes 1 tbsp of rough chopped Chinese black beans half a teaspoon of rehydrated minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of minced ginger then turn your heat onto medium and bring your oil up to between 200 to 225° F and you probably want to use a thermometer for this because getting the right temperature is crucial in making a good chili oil when you're up to Temp you want to maintain it at between

200 to 225° F for approximately 10 minutes stirring occasionally after the time is up slightly increase the heat to 250° f for 5 minutes monitoring the Heat and stirring occasionally then remove the chili oil from the Heat and allow it to sit uncovered for at least 6 to 8 hours or preferably overnight to allow the flavors to infuse into the oil it's important that you don't cover this sauce while it's cooling off because moisture can ruin the oil to finish you'll strain the chili oil through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth and you can

keep the chili oil in a covered container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks and if you want to customize the special sauce from earlier like they do tableside at PF Changs all you'll do is add hot mustard sauce or chili garlic sauce in whatever proportion you see fit and you can use the homemade chili oil white vinegar and soy sauce for additional seasoning all right back to the taste test I can see why this is the most popular dish at PF Changs I know it seems like a lot of work but if you

prep everything in advance the actual cooking time is just a couple of minutes and if you'd like to learn the secrets behind pfchang spicy chicken make sure to check out this video thanks for watching see you next time