"Velveting" Chicken (or Beef, Pork, Shrimp)

mitch5252 wrote:
You ever go to a Chinese restaurant and order chicken? It's always so tender and moist? (certainly nothing I ever achieved at home!)

Well, there's an easy process you can do at home to achieve this same result! I tried it this morning and it turned out just like the chicken in a Chinese restaurant (except I could have used a little more salt).

It's called velveting. Two ways to do it - one is in water and the other is in oil. The water method is recommended for home use. I then took the chicken and warmed in it in a sauce of onions, garlic, green curry paste, red pepper flakes, and coconut milk.

In case anyone loves chicken (supposedly works for most any meat - beef, pork, & shrimp, too) and wants to give it a try, this is the recipe I used - a definite keeper!

How To Velvet Chicken

ON EDIT: I wonder if it could be frozen at the little bath in the water? That'll have to be my next experiment. If that works well, great idea for taking along on a camping trip!

I like the make ahead aspect for sure. If wanted to do that (and I do) I'd stop at the barely bubbling simmer point here:

Once the water comes back to a barely-bubbling simmer, cook the chicken strips for 1 minute longer, stirring occasionally.

cool, freeze, and then cook it the remaining minute on site with the additional ingredients.

Oh and I particularly like your Thai inspired take on the dish.