The word "velvet" is a verb... sometimes. ;-) It's the almost-secret poaching technique that's used to produce tender, succulent chicken, beef and pork at your favorite Chinese Restaurant.
If you've been frustrated by less-than-stellar stir-fry results at home, simple velveting will take your stir-fry from mundane to extraordinary. Your family will swear it's take-out. ;-)
Here's how it's done with chicken:
Ingredients:
Whisk the egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, salt and 1 Tablespoon of oil in a medium bowl until smooth.
Add the sliced chicken and stir until coated.
Refrigerate (marinate) 30 minutes. Drain in colander.
Add 1-2 inches of water plus 1 Tablespoon oil to the skillet. Bring to a full boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Immediately add chicken strips, individually, to the almost-boiling water. Stir with slotted spoon so they don't stick together.
Once the water comes back to a barely-bubbling simmer, cook the chicken strips for 1 minute longer, stirring occasionally.
After 1 minute, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon into the colander to fully drain.
Put the drained strips into bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
The chicken strips are warm, fully cooked and ready to be added to your favorite stir-fry.
Need a delicious Stir-fry recipe? Try one of my favorites: Black Pepper-Garlic Chicken.
If you've been frustrated by less-than-stellar stir-fry results at home, simple velveting will take your stir-fry from mundane to extraordinary. Your family will swear it's take-out. ;-)
Here's how it's done with chicken:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb boneless, skinless Chicken meat, cut into thin strips
- 2 teaspoons Rice Wine (Saki) or Seasoned Rice Vinegar
- 1 large egg white
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons Canola or Peanut Oil- divided
- Water
- Medium bowl
- Whisk
- Colander
- large skillet
-
Slotted spoon
Whisk the egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, salt and 1 Tablespoon of oil in a medium bowl until smooth.
Add the sliced chicken and stir until coated.
Refrigerate (marinate) 30 minutes. Drain in colander.
Add 1-2 inches of water plus 1 Tablespoon oil to the skillet. Bring to a full boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Immediately add chicken strips, individually, to the almost-boiling water. Stir with slotted spoon so they don't stick together.
Once the water comes back to a barely-bubbling simmer, cook the chicken strips for 1 minute longer, stirring occasionally.
After 1 minute, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon into the colander to fully drain.
Put the drained strips into bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
The chicken strips are warm, fully cooked and ready to be added to your favorite stir-fry.
Need a delicious Stir-fry recipe? Try one of my favorites: Black Pepper-Garlic Chicken.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
Last week, I used the velveting marinade for thin beef strips. I fried them quickly instead of simmering them in water.
The meat was lightly browned and tender-crispy.
It was the best Beef Broccoli I've ever made!
This evening, I cooked this very chicken for the very first time, and I was very impressed. I was afraid the texture would be soggy and mushy, but oh, no, it was not at all. Thank you so much for introducing me to this fabulous technique. Made ahead, then added to stir fry, there will now be no excuse for driving 35 miles to for take-out.
Thank you, thank you!
Although it doesn't work with pork, or at least my dad couldn't get it work with pork xD
So pork wasn't impressive, eh? I'm wondering if the cut of pork and how it's sliced might be the key to successful velveting. A pork tenderloin, sliced along the grain sounds like a good bet to me. I'll have to try that when I get back to the states. I love moo shu pork.
Thanks for comenting, thomas!
The Universe has a way of doing things like that... a good way, of course! ;-D
Super for a halftime potato state girl :-)
Just 257 words in your ible which is also a prime number and
if each of your words multiplied by 4-5-6 it equals 117192....
There you are about half way to the moon.
A
Personally, I can't wait to try this technique with chicken and baby dumplings. ;-P~
6 garlic cloves, crushed
6 teaspoons sugar
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons Saki or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
Simply mix all ingredients, let stand for an hour or more. Pour over the beef just as it is done. We served it with Udon noodles and some green onions. FD!
This is the restaurant recipe for above mentioned beef recipes. It is also great with pork or poultry. Weâve spent most of the day on this experiment and could not be more pleased.
Thank you again Ms bajablue! A truley unique instructable.
Have you considered doing an Instuctable of this recipe? What cut of meat did you use?
FYI, the beef was prime rib. We buy a bunch when itâs on sale and reduce it to various future uses. A typical 5 rib roast will yield 3 steaks, a pound each of strips for skewers and burger. Of course there are always bits which work well in stir fries such as Beef and Green Peppers. We add fresh tomatoes to that recipe which makes a complete meal, (rice or noodles added as sides.)
In the past Iâve simply coated them with seasoned cornstarch and shallow fried before adding the sauce. My wife/critic says that the âVelvettingâ procedure is superior. I agree and we will probably use it for all preps in the future.
I have some pork loin thawing for further testing tomorrow. We canât get enough of that sweet, sour, salty umami taste.
Iâm retired and cooking is my passion so your reveal is very welcome. I have over 1000 tested recipes archived and more than 50 years of experience cooking. If you ever need advice, let me know.
After 30 years of cooking, how do I get out of the kitchen?
You've perfected your system to a science, steelchef. I can always use a good ear to bounce ideas off of, so thank you for offering! I'll be taking you up on that, so consider yourself warned. ;-)
With your vast experience, multitude of recipes and passion for cooking, I sure hope you'll reconsider publishing in the future. There's a lot of room for talented people here at Instructables.
lol... at the risk of sounding like a Nike commercial... "Just do it!" It's been really great interacting with you here and I hope to see some of your work published!
I run Windows 7, too... and the punctuation seems fine... knock on wood!
The chinese have kept this secret for too long :D
I couldn't agree more! ;-D
It was delicious and moist but even though I've made chicken that way a couple of times since it never occurred to me to prepare chicken that way for a stir-fry. I just always stir-fried the chicken and sometimes it comes out good and sometimes not so good. But poaching the chicken like this should ensure that it comes out right every time because I'll just warm the chicken stir-frying the veggies only.
Cool.
It only makes sense (now ;-) that a whole chicken could be cooked this way. My Chicken and Dumplings will never be the same!
btw... congrats on your first Ible. You've literally "built a better mouse trap"! ;-)
use a large stainless container, add my secret herbs and spices, and bring to boil. I slip in all the thawed pieces for about 15 min, and take out to remove skin that has loosened. In the meantime I have gotten the grill ready with my wood shavings of the day, (Maple, Walnut, Pecan, or Mesquite}, with a nice smoke going. I place the chicken on an upper rack, and check often to get a nice "Tan" on the outside with the flavor infused.
I bag in quantities that I anticipate using when thawded, and place in freezer.
They always last until next big sale at Kroger or Ingles.
Billy
Thank you, Thank you for posting this method. I'm sure that I'm going to be using it a lot!
I had to smile at your comment, too. It's surprising just how far a little appreciation goes. One "mmm... honey, that was delicious" is worth more to me than a bouquet of roses.
lol... some fellas haven't figured that out, yet... but I'm glad yours has, too. ;-)
Thank you for commenting!
To add to the ground beef conversation; I used to run a Taco place and we would cook gr. beef in 10 lb batches covered with water....sometimes from frozen, works either way. Once you get your seasoning's on, no one can tell it was boiled instead of fried.
You and MaryT have convinced me to try boiled hamburger. I'm guessing the texture is softer and even better than traditional browned meat.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!!
The velveting secret is out... spread the word! ;-D
BTW have you ever boiled hamburger for things like chili? I learned that from a place my friend worked in. Crumble the raw hamburger into boiling water (I use a masher to continue breaking the hamburger up). It releases a LOT of the fat, and the texture is much finer. Then you drain the water (and fat) off. You COULD brown it, but it's fully cooked at that point, so I usually don't. Then just use in pasta or chili etc