Last night, our kitchen magically morphed into healthy Panda Express:
I remember the exact day Panda Express showed up at our local shopping mall. I was in 7th grade—the age where girls ditch their parents, get glammed up in more makeup than kabuki performers, and hang out at the mall every single weekend, feeling incredibly cool and grown up.
After Panda Express moved in, you suddenly couldn’t set foot in the building without being hit by the addictive aroma of their orange sesame sauce. It called to us as we perused the displays of glitter eyeliner at Sephora. (Why did I ever think sparkly neon green eyeliner was a good look for me?) It beckoned to us while we debated the pink pleather pants from Wet Seal. (Sadly, I did end up buying a pair.) And then, as we purchased our much-too-short shorts at Abercrombie and Fitch, the orange sesame aroma practically screamed to us. (Perhaps it was simply trying to be heard over A&F’s ridiculously-loud music.)
Finally, we’d give in to temptation, devouring every sweet orange bite.
Last night we thought it’d be fun to make a Panda-inspired dinner, complete with chopsticks and Chinese takeout containers from Michaels. At first I thought to make tofu. But… cauliflower just seemed way more fun! For the cauliflower, I used: this cauliflower recipe.
(If you’d prefer, you can make “popcorn cauliflower” by combining 1/2 cup any type of flour with 1/2 cup water, dipping cauliflower florets into this mixture, baking 20 minutes at 425F, then pouring the sauce on top and baking another few minutes.)
To recreate Panda Express’s “secret” sauce, I first looked at the ingredients in their bottled sauce and many copycat recipes online. Then I gathered some basic ingredients common in all of the recipes (vinegar, garlic, ginger…) and played around with the proportions until the sauce tasted just as good as better than the one from Panda Express. What follows is some really, really good sauce.
You’ll want to put it on everything!
Healthy Panda Express Orange Sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (120g)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot (30g)
- 3-4 tbsp orange marmalade (45-60g)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (30g)
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 2 tbsp + 2 tsp rice vinegar (45g)
- 2 stevia packets, or 2 tbsp sugar (Liquid sweetener will work; just use a bit more cornstarch for thickening.)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or gf tamari (30g)
- optional: 1 tsp sesame oil
- optional: green onions for garnish, crushed red chilis for a spicy variation
Whisk broth and cornstarch or arrowroot until dissolved. Now turn on the heat to low-medium and add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it’s thickened, remove from heat. Makes 300g (about 1 1/4 cup). Serve over whatever you wish: rice, veggies, soba, tofu, etc. As noted above, here are the directions if you wish to make chicken-style cauliflower (it works with tofu as well): combine 1/2 cup any type of flour with 1/2 cup water, dip florets of one head cauliflower into this mixture, bake 20 minutes at 425F, then pour the sauce on top and bake another few minutes.
View Orange Sauce Nutrition Facts
LINK OF THE DAY:
I love Chinese Food, and Panda Express. P.F. Changs is pretty yummy too. Last night I made Asian-Style Fried Rice from better homes and gardens. It had the same “can’t eat enough” quality as take out. So good! And even healthier because I sauted in water instead of oil.
I can’t stop making this. It is just so delicious!
Oh I can’t wait to get my hands on your cook book when it is finished! It is going to be everyone’s gift for every occasion!
YUM YUM YUM!
Oh my Lord…Katie, I just made this (finally!), and…oh my gosh…I think I have a new favorite jam! XD
This sauce was amazing! Definately satisfied my craving! We made it with popcorn cauliflower!!! Wow!!!!! I think I could eat it everyday!! Love your site! I don’t think I have ever used a recipe site or even cookbook as much as yours!!!! I make something from your site once or twice a week!
Made this tonight. Loved the orange sauce but the “popcorn” cauliflower didn’t work out. The batter was kind of rubbery and made all my cauliflower just taste like flour. I was really disappointed that it didn’t work because even my kids were excited with the concept of “popcorn” veggies. Any suggestions, something I missed or could do differently?
I made this last week as hubz is doing a 3-day meatless cleanse, and it turned out fantastic. And stupid simple, too. (Just how I like it sometimes…) I used the ‘popcorn’ cauliflower method, and wow, very interesting way to eat cauliflower! I quite liked it. Mine didn’t crisp up quite as bit as a piece of chicken would have, but it did give it a nice mouth-feel and made it very filling. My husband kept saying ‘I’m pretending that this is chicken…’, lol. 🙂 I also stir-fried some other veggies, adding half the sauce to the veggies and half the to cauliflower, and then serving with brown rice. I didn’t blog about the recipe itself, but I did include a picture of my creation plus a link to your recipe on my blog entry today:
http://mybigfatbundt.blogspot.com/2012/10/curried-lentil-stew-vegan-gluten-free.html
Sorry, for fame-whoring my blog, lol. Not that it has many readings..but it was really good and photographs well. We will probably keep this one as a regular and even when my husband does go back to eating meat, I now having something where I can prepare for both of us without having to prepare an entirely meatless dish for myself. xx
Mmm, I LOVE Chinese food! Unfortunately, my homemade Chinese food always tastes rather…well…not Chinese. Still good, but nothing like the restaurant (the one I go to is crazy-authentic! Yum…) Anyways, I’m SO making this next time I get a Chinese craving! You should totally do a recipe for General Tso sauce – that is, if YOU like that kind of sauce! 🙂 I’d never waste ingredients on something I didn’t like . . . LOL 😉
Can you use reg vinegar instead of rice vinegar?
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been sadly missing vegetarian “Chinese” food ever since I moved away to college.
This is such a good recipe! Thanks!