Every recipe I’ve found online for P.F. Chang’s Spicy Chicken is missing the two sauces the restaurant actually uses. They’re called “white sauce” and “Chang’s sauce,” and without them, you’re not making the real dish.
Both sauces are simple. White sauce is chicken broth whisked with oyster sauce. Chang’s sauce is sugar dissolved in white vinegar. Each one takes about two minutes to make from ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Once you have those two sauces, the rest of the dish follows the same approach P.F. Chang’s uses on most of their chicken: an alkaline soy brine for tenderness, a potato starch dredge and deep fry for texture, then a quick stir-fry to finish.
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Minor’s Original Chicken Base. This is the brand P.F. Chang’s uses to make their white sauce. It comes in a tub and turns into chicken broth when whisked into hot water. You can find it on Amazon. If you can’t find Minor’s, any concentrated chicken base will work, but Minor’s is what the restaurant uses. They also make a gluten-free version if you need it.
Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce. This is the gluten-free version in the green bottle, with no added MSG. P.F. Chang’s uses this in their white sauce. If you can find Lee Kum Kee’s premium oyster sauce, the one with the mother and son harvesting gargantuan oysters on the label, that’s the one I recommend.
White sugar and white vinegar. These two pantry staples are the only ingredients in Chang’s sauce. Half a cup of sugar dissolved in six tablespoons of white vinegar. The sauce stores in the fridge for up to a month, so you can make a batch and have it ready whenever you want to cook from the P.F. Chang’s menu.
Sambal oelek chili paste. This is an Indonesian chili sauce made with chilis, salt, and vinegar. The exact brand P.F. Chang’s uses is Huy Fong, the same company that makes Sriracha. You’ll often find sambal oelek and Huy Fong’s chili garlic sauce next to each other on the shelf. Either one works for this recipe. The only difference is the chili garlic sauce has garlic in it. P.F. Chang’s uses sambal oelek.
Dehydrated minced garlic. You should be able to find this in the spice aisle at most grocery stores. P.F. Chang’s uses dehydrated garlic instead of fresh because it won’t burn and stick to hot pans as easily, and it gives a slightly smoother, more concentrated garlic flavor. To prepare it, cover the garlic with water and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes, then drain. You can keep reconstituted garlic in the fridge for about a week.
Potato starch. P.F. Chang’s uses potato starch to dredge their chicken before frying. You should be able to find it at most Asian grocery stores in small bags. It gives the chicken a lighter, crispier coating than cornstarch or all-purpose flour.
Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil. P.F. Chang’s uses this as a finishing oil because of its rich, nutty flavor. If you can only find toasted sesame oil, that will work. But the brand the restaurant uses is Lee Kum Kee pure sesame oil.
Lee Kum Kee Low Sodium Soy Sauce. The green bottle. This is the exact brand P.F. Chang’s uses in their alkaline soy marinade. Any soy sauce you have on hand will work for the brine, but this is what they use at the restaurant.
1. Make the alkaline soy marinade and brine the chicken.
Mix 1 cup of water with half a teaspoon of baking soda until dissolved, then stir in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Cut 12 ounces of chicken breast into roughly 1-inch cubes and place them in the brine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. At the restaurant, they brine their protein for a full 24 hours, and longer marination times do improve both the texture and flavor, so if you can plan ahead, it’s worth the wait.
2. Make the white sauce.
Add 1 cup of water and three-quarters of a teaspoon of Minor’s chicken base to a small pot over medium heat. Whisk until the chicken base is dissolved. Add 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce and whisk until combined. Let it cool before using. You should see a light, savory broth that looks nothing like what you’d expect from a sauce called “white sauce.” It keeps in the fridge for about a week.
3. Make Chang’s sauce.
Add half a cup of white sugar and 6 tablespoons of white vinegar to a small pot over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the sauce turns clear. Let it cool. This is the sweet half of the spicy chicken equation, and it keeps in the fridge for up to a month.
4. Dredge and deep fry the chicken.
Remove the chicken from the brine and pat it dry thoroughly with paper towels. Heat neutral frying oil to 350°F (175°C). Dredge each piece of chicken in potato starch, pressing it into every surface and shaking off the excess. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes until done, and make sure to agitate the pieces after the first minute so they don’t clump together. You’re cooking the meat completely at this stage, so the final stir-fry only takes a couple of minutes. Drain on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels.
5. Stir-fry the final dish.
Heat a small amount of neutral oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When you’re up to temperature, add 2 teaspoons of reconstituted garlic, a quarter cup of scallion whites, and 1 tablespoon of sambal oelek. Stir for 10 to 15 seconds to let the aromatics flavor the oil. Pour in half a cup of white sauce and 6 tablespoons of Chang’s sauce. Bring it to a simmer and let the flavors come together for a minute or two.
Stir a cornstarch slurry (2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water) and pour it into the sauce while stirring. Once the sauce thickens, add the fried chicken and fold it in until every piece is coated and there are no dry spots visible. Kill the heat and add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil around the rim of the wok. Stir until incorporated. Serve immediately.
Adjust the heat with sambal oelek. The recipe as written is extremely mild. If you like spicy food, add more chili paste. You control the heat level entirely through this one ingredient.
Make the sauces ahead of time. White sauce keeps for a week in the fridge. Chang’s sauce keeps for a month. Make both over the weekend and the dinner-night cook takes about 10 minutes from start to plate.
Pat the chicken dry after brining. Excess moisture will prevent the potato starch from sticking properly and cause the oil to splatter when you fry.
Stir the cornstarch slurry right before you add it. Cornstarch settles to the bottom of the bowl fairly quickly, so give it a good stir before pouring it into the sauce. If you skip this step, you’ll pour in water and leave the starch behind.
Reconstitute the garlic before you start cooking. Dehydrated minced garlic needs 20 to 30 minutes soaking in water before it’s ready. You can do this the night before and keep it in the fridge for up to a week.
Store leftover Spicy Chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot pan or wok over medium-high heat to restore some of the texture on the chicken. The microwave works in a pinch, but the coating will lose its crispness.
White sauce and Chang’s sauce store separately in sealed containers. White sauce lasts about a week in the fridge. Chang’s sauce lasts up to a month.
Yes. Dark meat gives you a richer flavor and stays juicier during frying. The brining and cooking times are the same.
The only difference is the chili garlic sauce has garlic added. Both are made by Huy Fong, the same company that makes Sriracha, and either will work for this recipe. P.F. Chang’s uses sambal oelek.
Yes. Minor’s chicken base makes a gluten-free version you can find on Amazon. For the soy sauce in the marinade, use tamari or any other gluten-free soy sauce. Those are the only two ingredients you need to change.
As written, it’s extremely mild. The heat comes entirely from the sambal oelek, so you control the spice level by adding more or less of the chili paste. Start with the 1 tablespoon in the recipe and add more next time if you want it hotter.
