Expert: Louis M. Wu - 5/3/2009

Question
Chef Wu,
Recently I worked several months in a local Chinese fast food establishment in order to add to my repertoire.  I am a classically trained in French and US Midwestern cuisine, but I am always looking to add to my portfolio.  The establishment for which I worked used 4 sauces or combinations thereof for almost every dish.  They had a Mongolian/Lo Mein sauce, Sesame sauce, General Tso's sauce, and a standard brown sauce.  The brown sauce, of course, was the most used because of the way in which the buffet was set.  We usually had Chicken with Mushrooms, Cashew Chicken, Broccoli Beef, & many others that relied on this sauce.  While the owners were very kind in teaching me to cook the various dishes, they didn't show me how to actually make any of the sauces.  I would like to make a lot of the brown sauce dishes at home, but I have no basis for which to make a brown sauce.  Could you please share with me a recipe for one?

Answer
hello Mr.Thomas!!!!!!!
how are you Chef! this is Chef Wu I'am glad to hear that you are interest in chinese cooking and work in one that's great to hear.
as far as your questions goes, you see I have my own brown sauce and I know it's diffrent from your Boss's and it's not I won't tell you what mine is but it's consits 18 ingredent. but if you want to make some for your own home cooking try these: soysauce,Oyster sauce,sugar
MSG(if you r not allergy to it),cooking wine,chop ginger,seaseme oil
scallions,chinese barbecue sauce(the one in Silver Can) look in the kitchen by chef's ingredent carts! try these and see. I didn't tell you measurment of these ingredents because we make a whole 5 gallon
soy sauce bucket at a time so you decide how much you want to make
good luck!!!!!!!!!!

Chef Wu