I love the phrase 'velveting the chicken'. It's got numerous possibilities with regards to meaning, some potentially more disturbing than others. As far as I know, the phrase is Chinese in origin, being that it's a southern Chinese cooking technique. The Chinese have a wonderfully poetic language for food; let's face it, 'eight treasure rice' is a far better name for a dessert than 'rice with nuts and fruits in'. 'Velveting the chicken' is a name that describes a marinade that is used when cooking chicken.
'Tastes like chicken' is a phrase used a lot when describing how something tastes; this is probably because, thanks to current production techniques, modern-day chicken meat is so generically bland and cheap that it doesn't really have a flavour of its own anymore. Back in the ago, chicken was meat that only the rich and privileged got to eat. Now it's one of the cheapest sources of protein available to most people. If you ever feel like your wallet's a little heavy and your stomach a little empty, obtain for yourself a free-range, organic chicken from a proper butchers (as opposed to the supermarket; don't get me started on supermarket meat.) They're expensive. You're looking at spending at least £15 for a decent sized one, maybe more depending on where the chicken was reared. But they're worth it, without a doubt.
That heavy wallet scenario isn't there for most of us though, so the tasteless meat served to us by the supermarket has to rely on the dish itself to provide the flavour. Every country seems to have it's own standard chicken dish, but the Chinese have an alarming number of tasty creations. But more than that: have you ever noticed with chicken dishes that you have from Chinese restaurants that the meat is so much more moist and tender than the stuff that you cook at home? Well, you might not have, but I did. 'Velveting the chicken' is one of the marinating techniques used to achieve this, and was something that I picked up many years ago, I know not from where or how, though I have a sneaking suspicion that Ken Hom might have been involved at some point. I just know that stir-fry dishes and the like are a lot nicer for me knowing this. It's especially useful when cooking with breast meat, which has a tendency to dry out and become stringy. It can be done in advance of cooking the meal proper, and it's so easy that really, you'd be a fool not to.
SO: the nitty gritty. You will require:
- 1lb / 500g chicken breast
- 1tbs corn flour
- 1tbs rice wine or dry sherry
- 1tbs cooking oil
- ½ tsp salt
- the white of one large egg
Cut the chicken into whatever shape you wish it to be, whether sliced or diced. It matters not. Place it in a bowl with the salt and rice wine / sherry and mix it all up a little.
Very gently whisk the egg white - you're looking to break it up a little so that it's not so gelatinous, but not to the point where it starts to froth. Now pour this over the chicken and (again) mix in.
The next bit depends on preference; you can either sprinkle the corn flour over the chicken, mix it in, then pour in the oil - OR - you can mix the oil and corn flour together and then pour the mixture in. Whatever works for you. Leave this mixture in the fridge for half an hour or so to allow the corn flour to attach itself to the meat and do its thing.
Now, heat some oil in a wok (and when I say `some', I mean about a pint / 500mls worth. No one ever said Chinese food was good for your arteries.) The oil shouldn't be too hot. What you're looking to be able to do is plunge the chicken into the oil so that its flesh turns white in around 30-45 seconds; the best thing to do is to heat the wok until it's smoking hot, pour the oil in, and then turn the heat down on the cooker to a medium heat. Test the oil with a cube of bread; if it's the right temperature the bread will turn brown very slowly. When you think it's at the right temperature, put the chicken in and stir it to separate the pieces out; ensure that they are all covered by the oil. If it starts to sizzle, turn the heat down; you do not want to be browning the chicken when doing this. As soon as the meat's turned white (as I said, around 30-45 seconds), take the wok off the heat and drain the chicken and oil through a strainer. When the oil's cooled down, you can bottle it for re-use later.
The chicken can now be used in the recipe of your choice; be sure to use it within an hour and don't refrigerate it in this time (it'll just dry the meat out, undoing all your good work.) It is possible to freeze your velveted chicken, but instead of frying it in oil, you have to boil it in a couple of pints of water with a tablespoon of oil. Again, do this for 30-45 seconds till the meat has turned white, and then drain. The meat can now be refrigerated or frozen for use later, it just won't taste as good as if you'd fried it. Everyone has their preferences when it comes to stir-fry ingredients and sauces. I tend to add the meat to some ginger and garlic that have been frying in a wok for a few seconds, continue until the meat is cooked through, and then add a bit of soy sauce (or some black bean / plum / hoi sin... you get the idea), heat until that's bubbling, throw in a bit of broccoli and some cashew nuts, and serve with the carbohydrate of your choice.
The great thing about stir-fries is that you can make them up as you go along.
Prawns can also be velveted; the technique is the same as it is with chicken, but you should decrease the amount of rice wine by 50% and increase the amount of corn flour by 50%. Prawns dry out very quickly and easily, and so need a little more corn flour to keep the moisture in; they also can't be frozen after cooking. |
