P.F. Chang’s Fried Rice (Actual Restaurant Recipe)
P.F. Chang’s fried rice gets most of its flavor from a sauce that doesn’t appear in any of the online recipes I’ve seen. I tracked down the exact ingredients and…
Dynamite shrimp is P.F. Chang’s most popular appetizer. They sell about a million orders of it every year. Every recipe online trying to replicate it calls for Kewpie mayonnaise, and every one of them gets it wrong. P.F. Chang’s makes their own Japanese-style mayonnaise by seasoning regular Hellman’s mayo with soy sauce, rice vinegar, celery salt, and turmeric.
That seasoned Hellman’s mayo is step one of a three-step process the restaurant uses to make the dynamite sauce. They turn it into their Crispy Green Bean sauce (the same one they serve with the crispy green beans appetizer) by adding sriracha, garlic, and green onions. Then they add chipotle powder and honey to turn the Crispy Green Bean sauce into the dynamite sauce. It sounds complicated, but you’re really just whisking spices and seasonings into a bowl of mayonnaise. The whole sauce takes about five minutes, and this recipe walks you through the actual three-step process the restaurant follows.
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Soy sauce. Lee Kum Kee’s low sodium version in the green bottle is what they use at the restaurant. It shows up twice in this recipe: once in the alkaline soy marinade for the shrimp and again in the dynamite sauce itself. Any brand of soy sauce will work, but LKK low sodium is the closest match.
Hellman’s mayonnaise. This is the base of the dynamite sauce, and it’s what every other recipe online gets wrong. P.F. Chang’s doesn’t use Kewpie. They make their own Japanese-style mayo by adding seasonings to regular Hellman’s mayo. Any Western-style mayo will work if you can’t find Hellman’s mayo, but avoid anything with added sugar or extra flavorings.
Celery salt. You’ll find this on the spice aisle at most grocery stores. It’s different from celery seed, so check the label before you buy. You only need an eighth of a teaspoon.
Chipotle powder. This is what gives the dynamite sauce its smoky, slightly sweet heat. A half teaspoon goes into the full batch of sauce. If your chipotle powder has been sitting in the cabinet for over a year, it might be worth replacing. The flavor fades over time.
Sriracha. Two tablespoons go into the Crispy Green Bean sauce step. Huy Fong is the standard brand, but any sriracha will work here.
Potato starch. The shrimp get dredged in potato starch before they are battered. It creates a lighter, crispier initial coating than flour would. If you can’t find it, cornstarch works as a substitute. Potato starch is different from potato flour, so make sure you’re grabbing the right one.
3 Ladies Brand rice vermicelli. These are the thin, dried rice noodles that puff up when you drop them into hot oil. They turn into the crispy rice stick garnish. The 3 Ladies medium size has consistently given me the best results. Look for them labeled as rice vermicelli, rice sticks, or mei fun at Asian grocery stores.
1. Marinate the shrimp. Whisk together water, soy sauce, and baking soda to make the alkaline soy marinade. Pour it over the frozen shrimp and let them thaw directly in the brine, about an hour at room temperature or a few hours in the fridge. When they’re fully thawed, strain and pat dry with paper towels. This is the same marinade used in P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef and Beef with Broccoli, and it does two things: the soy sauce seasons the shrimp all the way through, and the baking soda changes the protein structure so they stay juicy and have that bouncy texture. If you’re using a 12-ounce bag, double the marinade recipe so all the shrimp are submerged. You can prep these up to 2 days ahead and store them in the fridge.
2. Make the dynamite sauce. Start by whisking the mayonnaise with soy sauce, rice vinegar, celery salt, salt, and turmeric. That’s the Japanese-style mayo. Then add sriracha, another half teaspoon of rice vinegar, sliced green onions, and minced garlic. That’s the Crispy Green Bean sauce. Then whisk in chipotle powder and honey, and you have the finished dynamite sauce. The whole process takes about five minutes. For the best flavor, refrigerate the sauce for several hours before using it. This makes enough sauce for 2-3 orders of shrimp, and it keeps in the fridge for about a week.
3. Make the fry batter. Whisk flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add ice cold water, crack in an egg, and pour in neutral oil. Whisk until smooth with no visible streaks of egg or oil. Keep this in the fridge until you’re ready to fry. You want the batter as cold as possible when it hits the oil. This batch makes enough batter for 4-6 orders of shrimp.
4. Fry the rice sticks. Heat oil to 425-450°F. Pull apart the rice noodle bunches and tear them into roughly 1-inch pieces. Drop a small handful into the hot oil. They should puff up within a few seconds. If they don’t puff immediately, the oil isn’t hot enough. Remove them as soon as they’re puffed and drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Work in very small batches because they expand a lot. These store at room temperature in a covered container for 2-3 days.
5. Prep the cabbage mix. Toss together finely shredded green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots at a 4:4:1 ratio. This is just for plating and it stores in the fridge for about a week.
6. First fry. Heat oil to 350°F. Take 10 of the marinated shrimp and toss them in potato starch until they’re completely coated, then shake off the excess. Dip each shrimp into the cold fry batter, let the excess drip off, and lower them individually into the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes until cooked through, agitating them so both sides fry evenly. Remove to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. At this point, the shrimp are ready to sauce and serve. This is actually how the restaurant handles it: the shrimp are pre-fried and held, then get a quick second fry when someone places an order.
7. Double-fry for extra crispiness. Raise the oil temperature to 375°F. Drop the shrimp back in for 1-2 more minutes. This second fry at a higher temperature expels the moisture trapped in the batter, and that moisture is the main reason a crispy coating goes soggy after it’s sauced. Remove to the wire rack.
8. Sauce and serve. Place a small bed of the cabbage mix on a plate. Toss the hot shrimp with several tablespoons of the dynamite sauce until they’re completely coated. Arrange the sauced shrimp over the cabbage, then top with fried rice sticks and thinly sliced green onion tops.
Keep the fry batter ice cold. Cold batter hitting hot oil creates a bigger temperature difference, which produces more steam and a crispier crust. If the batter warms up while sitting on the counter, the coating ends up more dense and less crispy. Make the batter ahead and keep it refrigerated until the moment you need it.
The double fry makes the shrimp noticeably crispier. This is the same technique P.F. Chang’s uses at the restaurant. They pre-fry the shrimp and hold them, then drop them back in the oil at 375°F for a quick second fry right before serving. That second fry expels moisture trapped in the batter, and that’s what keeps the coating crispy even after it’s sauced. A lot of Chinese and Korean restaurants use this same technique for fried chicken. If you only fry once, the crust starts going soft within a minute or two of the sauce going on.
Rice sticks need very hot oil. If your oil is below 425°F, the noodles absorb oil instead of puffing, and they turn brown and greasy instead of white and airy. Test with one or two strands first. If they puff within a few seconds, you’re good. If they sink and slowly expand, the oil isn’t hot enough.
Potato starch gives a lighter crust than cornstarch. Both work for the pre-batter dredge, but potato starch produces a noticeably lighter, more delicate texture. You can find it at most grocery stores near the cornstarch. Make sure you’re grabbing potato starch, not potato flour. They’re different products.
The frozen shrimp shortcut. If you don’t want to deal with marinating, battering, and deep-frying at home, you can use frozen pre-fried shrimp (popcorn shrimp or tempura shrimp from the freezer aisle) and just toss them in the dynamite sauce. It won’t taste exactly the same, but it gets you about 75% of the way there and takes about 15 minutes.
Dynamite sauce keeps in the fridge for about a week in a sealed container. Give it a stir before using since the ingredients can separate slightly.
Fry batter can be made several hours ahead and stored in the fridge. Keep it cold until you’re ready to fry.
Marinated shrimp store in the fridge for up to 2 days after marinating. Pat dry again before dredging.
Fried rice sticks store in a covered container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Don’t refrigerate them or they’ll lose their crunch.
Fried shrimp are best eaten right after cooking. If you need to hold them, use the restaurant approach: do the first fry, hold the shrimp at room temperature for up to several hours, then do the second fry right before serving.
Different restaurants, different sauces. Bang bang shrimp is Bonefish Grill’s version, and that sauce uses a sweet chili base. P.F. Chang’s dynamite sauce starts with a seasoned mayonnaise base and gets its heat from sriracha and chipotle powder, plus a touch of honey. The shrimp prep (battered and fried) is similar in both dishes, but the sauces taste noticeably different.
Yes. Frozen popcorn shrimp or tempura shrimp work fine as a shortcut. Cook them according to the package directions (oven or air fryer), then toss with the dynamite sauce. The texture and coating won’t be exactly like what you get at P.F. Chang’s, but the sauce is what most people want to replicate anyway, and the sauce recipe here is the same regardless of which shrimp you use.
Potato starch creates a lighter, more delicate coating. Cornstarch works well but tends to produce a slightly denser, crunchier texture. Either one will work in this recipe. The main thing is to shake off the excess starch before dipping in the batter so you don’t end up with thick, gummy spots on the finished shrimp.
