P.F. Chang’s Oriental Sweet Chili and Garlic Eggplant

Today I am making an absolutely delicious eggplant recipe, “Oriental Sweet Chili and Garlic Eggplant.” It is inspired by a similar dish which we ate our local P.F. Chang’s restaurant over the Christmas holidays. We have a family tradition of eating at a P.F. Chang’s Restaurant some time during the winter break and have been going there, off and on, for about 10 years. It has become a challenge for me to order one of their menu items and then reproduce the dish at home. This year we tried P.F. Chang’s “Stir-Fried Eggplant” which was an entree. Of course, it was outstanding. It used an Indonesian-type chili paste in the recipe which gave a unique flavor to the dish. The eggplant was flash fried in a wok and then tossed with the sauce — I guess this is a “Asian-fused” menu item. Since it includes elements of Chinese cuisine, I am featuring this recipe during the Chinese New Year holiday.

Continue reading

Dynamite Shrimp Appetizer

My “Dynamite Shrimp” appetizer is an absolutely delicious way to serve shrimp. It is inspired by the appetizer served at P.F. Chang’s Restaurant where shrimp tails are dipped in tempura batter, fried and then coated with a sriracha aioli. Yum! For the past several years, one of our winter holiday family traditions has been to enjoy a meal at a P.F Chang’s Restaurant. The atmosphere, variety of menu choices and presentation of the oriental foods can’t be beat. This year our favorite dish was “Dynamite Shrimp.” I decided to make a variation of the dish at home. We all agreed that my shrimp appetizer tasted just as good as P.F. Chang’s version and, surprisingly, it isn’t that difficult to make using common household ingredients.

Continue reading

Cauliflower Tempura with Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Sauce

During this holiday season, we ate the most delicious cauliflower appetizer, “Cauliflower Tempura with Gochujang Sauce,” at a P.F. Chang’s Restaurant. I love cauliflower, prepared in any way, and this was simply one of the best preparations I have ever tasted. I decided to research the recipe and duplicate it at home. I am pleased. The result turned out great; it was similar but uniquely my own.  Here is P.F. Chang’s Cauliflower Tempura.

Continue reading