Velveting Chicken Breast, Chinese Restaurant-Style
Chicken as moist and tender as the best Chinese restaurant. There are several different methods for velvetingchicken. Here are two of my favorites.
Instructions
Method 1
- Ingredients
- 1 egg white
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil or canola oil
Directions
- Whisk egg white, vinegar, cornstarch, and salt together in a bowl until the marinade is smooth. Add chicken; cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator, about 30 minutes.
- Fill a large pot with at least 8 cups of water and add the oil. Using high heat, bring to a rapid boil. Reduce heat to medium.
- Pour excess marinade off the chicken. Add chicken to the pot; boil until white on the outside but still raw in the middle, about 1 minute. Strain off excess liquid.
- Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container until ready to use, up to a few hours.
- When ready to use, cook the chicken until it is no longer pink and juices run clear.
Method 2
- Ingredients
- 8 oz chicken breast slices OR bite size pieces (not whole pieces, Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carb/bi-carbonate)
- Instructions
- Place chicken in a bowl and sprinkle baking soda all over the surface.
- Toss with fingers to coat as evenly as possible.
- Refrigerate 20 minutes for slices, 30 minutes for bite size pieces.
- Rinse well in colander to remove baking soda.
- Shake off, then gently pat away excess water (it doesn’t need to be completely dry).
- Use as directed in chosen recipe – stir fries and noodles (see in post for suggested recipes). Can be marinated, cooked on the stovetop, deep-fried, or simmered in broth.
Notes
- Only use slices and bite-size pieces – These methods of tenderizing chicken are suitable for sliced or small bite-size pieces of chicken, not a whole breast or thigh fillet.
- The baking soda is too strong and will over-tenderize the outside before the inside is tenderized.
- I’ve left chicken marinating for almost 1 hour, and it’s been fine. A bit softer than I’d like, but it wasn’t too soft.
- I only tenderise breast and tenderloin. I don’t think chicken thigh needs it, They are juicy enough as is.
- Storage: Although I can’t prove this definitively, I believe the shelf life of raw chicken is slightly shortened. I like to use it within 24 hours or freeze it.
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content may vary depending on the brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and other factors.
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