Inside one of Panda Express' test kitchens, the chef that gave the world orange chicken was preparing something decidedly different: a classic regional Chinese dish called "lion's head meatballs."
The recipe plays the rich and delicate texture of ground pork belly against a clear broth and blanched Napa cabbage, curled against the meatballs to look like a lion's mane.
Company executives stabbed at the orbs prepared by Chef Andy Kao with plastic utensils, nodding in approval with each satisfying bite. The dish was ethereal, comforting and reminiscent of the version the chain's founder, Andrew Cherng, ate as a boy growing up in China.