Cart De Frisco Recipe

May 12, 2022 - Update

Wow, the traffic on this page has taken off! There are some Cart de Frisco lovers out there besides myself it seems. I've heard that the cart has closed permanently much to all of our dismay and disappointment.  Well... after two years of making these knock off sandwiches, it think this needs a bit of an update as I've tweaked and refined the recipe. 

First, and this is probably the most important lesson, get a mandoline for finely shaving the cabbage. I use the finest setting on mine and think of this as making a sponge rather than a coleslaw texture. I use one of the carrot peelers that will make small, thin strips too, but I don't think that is as important as getting the texture right on the cabbage. 

Second - After working with my original recipe I thought the sandwiches were too salty. To dial that back a bit I cook the chicken now without any marinade and at most give a light brushing at the end with a soy, honey, vinegar mixture. But you don't even need that really in my opinion. 

Third - I cut the plum sauce with applesauce now about 50/50. 

Fourth - According to a friend, these can be made gluten free with the substitution of gluten free hoisin and a gluten free ginger, teriyaki for the marinade. We added some ginger and rice vinegar to the store bought marinade to punch up the brightness. They obviously used some gf buns too. I can't attest to the taste but they liked it enough to go back for several rounds. 

Lastly, making this is a decent about of prep and work. However, I've learned that it's about as easy to make 4 sandwiches as 16 or more. So these have been great excuses to get a bunch of people together and have Cart de Frisco parties. When I've done this I just line up the sauces, show everyone the order and let them have at it. 

Hope you're all enjoying!

Chris

May 19, 2020

I spent the Covid 19 quarantine perfecting the Cart de Frisco. It is the best sandwich ever. It is also super addicting. So figuring out a near perfect knock-off recipe was some relief, not just because the food cart is closed, but also because I don't live in Eugene anymore. I can make these whenever I want!

Here is my knock off recipe for anyone interested. This will make 4 sandwiches and the recipe is spot on for what you get at the food cart. My wife even said she likes this one better. I'm sure she was only partly being nice so if you can buy the sandwich from the cart. They are an awesome little food cart and I'm sure they need the business. But for those that can't or moved away from Eugene this will help scratch that itch.

Here is the link to my document.

The Definitive Knock-Off Cart de Frisco Sandwich Recipe

By Christopher Coiner

Cart De Frisco Knock-Off Recipe 

Main Ingredients:

Boneless and skinless chicken thighs - 1 1/2 lbs

Onion buns - 4

Carrot - 1 cup fine shaved 1 inch strings 

Red and green cabbage - finely shaved 1 ½ - 2 cups each

Cilantro

Sauces

Sauces:

Marinade - ¼ cups each of soy sauce and rice vinegar

Peanut sauce - mixture of 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, and ¼ cup creamy peanut butter and a tbsp of sesame
oil and a tbsp of sesame seeds - mixed and emulsified. Add a bit of water to thin it if needed.

Basting sauce - szechuan sauce for grilling chicken and drizzling on sandwich

Slaw sauce - ½ cup of the sesame ginger marinade and sauce. 

Spicy sauce - ¼ cup chili garlic paste with a tbsp of finely chopped cilantro

Plum sauce - for glazing bottom bun

Bun oil - Garlic oil or chopped garlic (I use the squeeze kind you can buy at the grocery store.)

Toasted sesame oil

Chicken

Cut chicken in chunks. Marinate in soy sauce and rice vinegar for 30 min - 1 hour. Make skewers of thighs.
Parboil or bake at 300 until done - about 30 min. Can refrigerate until ready to make sandwiches

When ready to make the sandwich, BBQ chicken skewers, basting with Szechuan basting sauce until hot with good grill marks.

Slaw

Mix carrot and shaved cabbage in a bowl with a ¼ cup of finely chopped cilantro.
Add a ¼ to a ½ cup of the slaw sauce and mix it up.

Buns

Start toasting buns on BBQ, tops down and rub a little garlic oil on the insides.
Then flip and toast the other side until they have a little char.

Assembly  

When buns are done and ready for sandwich, glaze the bottom bun with plum sauce.
Coat top bun with peanut sauce mixture. Add slaw to the bottom bun piled high.
Give a portion of chicken removed from the stick a little smash with the flat side of a knife or spoon and add it to the pile.
Drizzle a bit extra basting sauce and a few dashes of sesame oil on chicken.

Add the spicy sauce if desired. Put on that top bun and enjoy!

Links to Store Bought Ingredients:

The other brands don’t matter too much. These are the ones that I found work the best though for the ones that matter.

Onion Buns - Franz work best

https://franzbakery.com/HTML/productView.html#category=bunsRolls.hams&id=bunsRolls.hams.premiumOnion

House of Tsang Szechuan Sauce - for the basting https://www.amazon.com/House-Tsang-Szechuan-Stir-Sauce/dp/B000VDSY3Q

Cornet Bay Sesame Ginger Sauce and Marinade - the slaw dressing https://www.cornetbay.com/product/gourmet-sesame-ginger-sauce/

Huey Fong Sambal Oelek Chili Paste - for the spicy sauce https://www.amazon.com/Huey-Fong-Sambal-Oelek-Chili/dp/B000JMAVXA

Let me know what you think! Always open to suggestions and improvements.