“No Ghee” Says P.F. Chang’s
By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director
An online reader commented on our website that a P.F. Chang’s employee had told her that ghee was an ingredient in all of their vegetarian dishes except the steamed vegetables and rice. Ghee is clarified butter that is commonly used in South Asian cuisine. Since this was contradictory to what P.F. Chang’s told us in 2011, we contacted P.F. Chang’s to see if there had been an ingredient change.
The Director of Media Relations at P.F. Chang’s told us in October 2012 that “P.F. Chang’s only uses wok oil and not ghee.”
Similarly, P.F. Chang’s Marketing Coordinator replied by saying:
“I talked to our training department and…our Director of Culinary Operations about your inquiry. I was informed we do not use ghee in any of our dishes and it’s not something in any of our recipes nor is it kept in our restaurants.
Regarding the wok oil and wondering if it could contain animal- or dairy-derived flavors or be processed on equipment where residual animal or dairy ingredients could have been in contact with the wok oil, the Marketing Coordinator at P.F. Chang’s told us in February 2013 that
[o]ur wok oil is a soy-based oil. It is considered a safe oil for persons allergic…to soy as it contains no soy protein. We have never asked the supplier about animal contamination. We would expect it not to be an issue. We are looking into this further for you.”
A week later he informed us after hearing from his supplier that “No animal oil is processed in the plants that make our wok oil.”
More information about the vegetarian menu options at P.F. Chang’s is on their website: http://www.pfchangs.com/menu/
Other recent VRG articles about P.F. Chang’s:
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2012/09/07/p-f-chang%E2%80%99s-vegetarian-labeled-dishes-oyster-sauce-is-all-vegetable-no-honey-egg-or-dairy-present/
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2011issue1/2011_issue1_pf_changs.php
The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including the Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company employees or company statements. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.
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A week ago, my sister-in-law was planning a dinner with take-out dishes from P.F. Chang’s in Glen Mills, PA. When Cele called Chang’s to place her order, she mentioned that “we are vegan.” The person who answered the phone asked Cele to hold and the chef then came on the phone. He told Cele, “We can’t guarantee that any of our dishes are vegan because we use egg wash in our sauces.”
Of course, Cele didn’t place an order and prepared a wonderful vegan lasagna (recipe from Vegetarian Times, online) for the birthday celebration.
Also, searching Chang’s menu online, I see that their vegetarian lettuce wraps are prepared with oyster sauce.