P.F. Chang's Fried Rice Secrets Revealed

today I'll show you the correct recipe for PF Chang's signature fried rice we'll go over the exact ingredients and techniques they use at the restaurant and we'll discuss how to make every possible variation of fried rice on PF Chang's menu chicken beef pork shrimp and even their vegetarian version to get started we'll first need to address the type of rice pfchangs uses for their fried rice so just judging by looks at the restaurant it appears to be a long grain white rice I've spoken with several people at various locations and gotten conflicting answers on the

exact brand so I have to assume each restaurant gets different brands depending on the availability and their suppliers the only one mentioned multiple times was Riceland brand long grain white rice and Riceland is widely available so this is what I recommend however any American long grain white rice should work fine for this recipe to prepare the rice you'll start by washing it under several changes of water until it runs clear this will help remove the surface starch that causes rice to Clump together and become sticky and pfchangs uses large rice cookers to prepare their rice

once you've dialed in your ratio of water to rice you can use rice directly from the rice cooker to make fried rice most restaurants use fresh rice for fried rice you'll just want to let it cool down to room temperature before using it because the steam from hot rice can introduce moisture that will make your rice mushy but if you're making it on the stove top via the absorption method you'll need to experiment with the ratio of water to rice until you find something that works for you it's typically around 1 to 1 and 1

half Parts water to one part rice and with rice cooked on the stove top it's almost always best to spread it out on a baking sheet to let it cool down completely and then lightly cover it and store it in the fridge overnight to dehydrate a little more for proteins PF Changs gives you four options chicken beef pork and shrimp and I'll break down how to deal with each one separately but before we get to that let me show you how to make the alkaline soy marinade PF Changs uses to ensure they have the most

tender and flavorful meat imaginable so we'll start by adding one cup of water to a large bowl and to that add half a teaspoon of baking soda and whisk to dissolve this will raise the pH of the water to make it more alkaline what this does is make it harder for the protein bands in the meat to tighten during the high heat of w cooking or deep frying this is what most Chinese restaurants use to give their proteins that fork tender texture that is often associated with takeout style stir fry meat if you've ever added

baking soda directly to a protein and felt like it gave it an off flavor using a brine like this is a way to get all the tenderizing effects of baking soda without imparting such flavors then add 1/3 cup of soy sauce to the alkaline water and whisk it in and pfchangs currently uses leum key low sodium soy sauce the one in the green bottle and you can store the alkaline soy marinade in a covered container in the fridge indefinitely now for the first protein we'll start by taking a boneless skinless chicken breast and removing the

tenderloin then cut the breast lengthwise into about 1 in strips now take each of these strips and make 1/8 in cuts across the Grain and the finished slices should look something like this then you'll place the chicken slices into the alkaline soy marinade for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours at the restaurant they brine all their meats for 24 hours and just make sure to refrigerate it the entire time it's marinated for the beef pfchangs uses flank steak because of its pronounced beefy flavor this is arguably the most popular choice for stir

fry dishes in Chinese restaurants one of the biggest problems homecooks face when dealing with flank steak is how to properly prepare it for stir fry because of the long muscle fibers in this particular cut if you slice it incorrectly it can become inedibly chewy to start what you want to do is identify the fibers that run along the steak we'll first make about 1 in Cuts with the grain to get our meat into manageable pieces then take each of these sections and turn them perpendicular to you take your knife tilt it at about a 30

to 40° angle and cut them into about 1/8 in slices if you're having problems slicing the beef thinly enough toss it in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes and this will firm it up making it much easier to cut and this is what the beef slices should look like if you've done it correctly then place the beef slices in the soy marinade for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours and make sure to refrigerate it the entire time for the pork pfchangs uses either pork loin or pork sirloin but the problem

with these two cuts for homecooks is that you'll often have to buy a large portion so what I like to get is these thinly sliced center cut pork chops which are from the same part of the pig as the pork loin and are generally only a few bucks because you can buy a much smaller portion no matter what cut you grab you'll follow the same process as the chicken and beef cut your pork into strips about 1 in wide then cut the strips into about 1/8 in slices add the sliced pork to the marinade for

at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours and make sure to refrigerate it the entire time to cook the meat PF Changs deep fries their proteins before adding them to the fried rice so all the meats are cooked before adding them to the rice so we'll start by heating some neutral oil to 350° then remove the protein whichever one you're using from the alkaline soy marinade and Pat it dry with paper towels now working in small batches add the marinated meat to the oil and make sure agitate it so it doesn't Clump together and

depending on how much you're deep frying it generally takes about 2 minutes to finish the cooking you'll know it's ready when you see the edges start to Brown then remove the meat to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain once it's cooled off you can store the prepared proteins in the fridge for about 2 to 3 days for the shrimp PF Changs uses medium siiz 4150 count Frozen peeled in Devan shrimp you should be able to find these in most grocery stores in the seafood freezer section to prepare the shrimp all you'll do

is add them to a large bowl and pour over the alkaline soy marinade it should take about half an hour for the shrimp to thaw once they're thawed remove the shrimp from the marinade and Pat them dry with paper towels to cook the shrimp bring some water in a large pot up to a boil lower the heat to a simmer and add them to the water cook for about 1 to 2 minutes or until the shrimp are done and remove them to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and let them cool off completely once

cooled the cooked shrimp can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for about 2 to 3 days now the final piece of the puzzle we'll need is PF Chang's dark sauce this is a sort of base sauce they use at the restaurants to make the sauces for about half of their dishes but before we get started let me give you a quick rundown of a few of the specialty ingredients will'll need 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 and you should be able to find some version of a mushroom soy sauce at most Asian grocery stores for the oyster sauce PF jangs uses leum key Panda brand oyster flavored sauce in the green bottle and this is the gluten-free version with no added MSG all of leum Key's oyster sauces are legit but if you're able to find their premium oyster sauce the one with the bucolic scene of a mother and son

harvesting gigantic oysters on the label this is the one I recommend for the base of the sauce pfchangs uses a chicken broth made from Miner's original chicken base and you should be able to find this on Amazon I'll include a link in the video description but if you don't want to spring for this exact brand both nor and leom key Asian style chicken buan powder will also work fine for this recipe and finally for the rice wind PF Changs 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 shaing wine and while there are some subtle differences flavor-wise they are essentially interchangeable you should be able to find mitchu 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 xaing now to make the dark sauce let's start by adding a/4 cup of the prepared chicken broth to a small pot along with 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar bring it up to a simmer over medium heat and whisk just until the sugar

has dissolved then kill the Heat and add 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of soy sauce 1 tbsp of mushroom soy sauce for color 1 tbsp of oyster sauce and 2 tbsp of meu or shaing rice cooking wine give it a whisk until everything is incorporated and this is the actual recipe for PF Chang's dark sauce after it's cooled down you can store the sauce in a covered container in the fridge for about a month when you're ready to cook the fried rice it's essential to have everything prepared and ready to go we'll go over all

the ingredients you'll need while we're making the rice but because this is a stir-fried Dish everything is cooked within just a couple of minutes so you'll need to have all the components prepared beforehand to get started let's heat some neutral oil in a walk over medium high heat once the oil is hot crack in one large egg and let the whites of the Egg Set around the edges stir the egg until it's almost done and then add 6 oz of the protein of your choice if you're doing a combination fried rice with all the meats

add 2 and 1/2 oz of each kind give it a stir until the meats are up to Temp and then toss in 16 oz of cooked rice press the rice down with the back of your spatula and break up any large chunks of rice while mixing in the eggs and proteins then toss in half a cup of bean sprouts half a cup of julienne carrots and 1/3 cup of sliced green onions and most grocery stores will have bags of Julianne carrots if you don't feel like cutting them yourself stir the veggies into the rice until

they've started to soften and then add a teaspoon of white pepper to the walk stir it into the rice until it's mixed in and then pour 1/4 cup of the dark sauce around the edges of the walk this will help caramelize the sauce somewhat and give the rice a nice toasty flavor work the sauce into the rice until you see no white chunks left and turn off the heat give the rice a taste and adjust the final seasoning with extra salt I typically use about a teaspoon and this is it this is the actual recipe

for pfchangs fried rice now very very quickly before our taste test I want to break down how to make their vegetarian option it's essentially the same process but instead of meat we'll add shitake mushrooms broccoli and snap peas and for the dark sauce you'll just use a vegetarian buan base and a vegetarian oyster sauce you can typically find vegetarian oyster sauces made from mushrooms at most Asian grocery stores to prepare the vegetables let's start by pouring boiling water over some dried shitake mushrooms and letting them steep for about 30 minutes then drain the mushro mushrooms

and slice them into small pieces like this for the snap peas you'll just pinch the end like this to remove the thread then toss them into a pot of boiling water with some broccoli fettes to blanch for about 1 minute then drain the veggies and set them aside to cook the rice start by heating some oil in a walk over medium high heat once the oil is hot add 16 oz of cooked rice half a cup of bean sprouts half a cup of Julianne carrots and 1/3 cup of green onions stir the rice breaking up

any large chunks you see until the rice and vegetables are evenly mixed then toss in the mushrooms the broccoli and the snap peas and stir them into the rice add 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper and stir it into the rice until it's mixed in well then pour in 1/4 cup of the vegetarian dark sauce around the edges of the rice stir in the sauce until you no longer see any white chunks then kill the Heat and adjust the final seasoning with extra salt and this is the vegetarian option for PF Chang's fried rice all right

all right back to the taste test this is a perfect addition to the PF Changs dishes we've made on this channel and you should be able to make it at home for much cheaper than what you'd pay at the restaurant and if you enjoyed this video make sure to check out pfchang spicy chicken here thanks for watching see you next time