Spoiler not everything can be stored on your bar cart! More often than not, its thanks to one simple pantry staple: cornstarch. Try and get that soda powder all over the thinly-sliced beef by rubbing it in. Dish out and set aside. When you feel its time to stir-fry the velvet meat, cut the onions into very thin strips and the chives into rings. Enjoy! Word of caution: The beef will turn freakishly bright red. Heres the general rule of thumb Ive come up with based on all the beef Ive tried: Chuck beef, gravy beef, oyster beef and other traditional stewing beef 30 minutes, Economical steak cuts (eg. While it freezes, the fat and sinew molecules break apart so that when you stir-fry it, its unbelievably soft. Bring water and oil to a boil in a pot over high heat. Nobody really knows what causes it, but if youve ever had a stringy or tough chicken breast, you may have experienced it. The beef will be really tender and soft, "velvet' like. If not, skip down to the next section. Butdont limit yourself to just Chinese recipes! I like to add sliced onions or garlic as well, which gives the alliums additional time to soak up the oil and salt. For velveting, desired-sized chunks of meat are coated and marinated for 30 to 45 minutes in a mixture of cornstarch, rice wine, egg whites, salt, sugar, and soy sauce. In fact, if you put your ear very close to the beef, youll hear faint fizzing thats the baking soda at work! that are otherwise quite dry when used in stir fries; chuck and similar cuts of beef used for stews this technique will tenderise the beef perfectly, however, by their very nature, stewing cuts of beef dont have as strong a natural beef flavour as steaks. Not only is it easier, searing really brings out the chicken flavor and creates an ever-so-light crust. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I love this cooking technique! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); For the first time I velveteen chicken first and blanched vegetables,than made it all come together with slurry of oyster sauce,soy sauce white pepper salt and apiece of sugar and little cornflour.It was absolutely delicious. Velveting is a critical Chinese cooking technique. This method, known as oil-blanching, ensures ingredients dont clump together and stick to the wok when stir-frying. For fish, velveting adds an extra silky texture.. Heat the oil in a wok (or a large frying pan). After you mix these ingredients together, set it aside for around 15 to 30 minutes before blanching in hot oil or boiling water. However, its up to you. Increase the cornstarch and youll end up with something thicker and more substantive, maybe a slurry better-suited to a stew or soup, like the Chinese Filipino misua I grew up with. For Dough and Noodles Or add velveted meat to stir-fried noodle dishes like Classic Lo Mein or Andy Liangs Singapore Mei Fun. Using a meat mallet (or kitchen mallet) to pound steaks helps soften and Salting. Have a question? It also protects the chicken from the hot wok, yielding juicy chicken. All restaurants (and most home cooks) velvet their chicken before making stir-fries, fried rice, etc. Its typical to also marinate with ingredients like soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce or white pepper. Lets say you have a 400 or 500-gram piece of topside beef, which is a cheaper cut than a steak. Why is it that no matter what you order from an American Chinese restaurant, from egg drop soup to fiery kung pao chicken, the texture is out of this world? Then, the cook adds it to a stir-fry with other ingredients. To complete the velveting process, some cooks recommend dipping the marinated morsels in peanut oil for less than one minute on active fire. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 1. Add the water and soy sauce (or oyster sauce) to the chicken in a medium bowl, and mix until the chicken is well-coated. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions! You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. Cream and vanilla? For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing. Other tenderising methods include marinating in a cornflour/cornstarch sludge then frying in oil before using in the stir fry, chemical tenderisers and egg white marinates. Slice beef thinly against the grain. What to Serve with Beef Tenderloin (23 Ultimate Choices). Velveted inexpensive cuts of beef turned ultrasilky in a soup seasoned with ginger and black pepper. Learn how to make the beef in your stir-fry soft and silky like the restaurants. Its much harder to identify how the grain runs in beef chuck than for flank steak. Stir-fry until the chicken has turned opaque, and remove from the wok. Hi Nagi and Dozer, Isnt leaving the meat in oil for 3 minutes going to cook it through? Wen agrees and says, I would recommend mixing all the marinade ingredients together very well before adding in your meat. Water blanching is much more friendly (and healthy) for home cooking. There are a few methods, but this is the easiest way: Sprinkle 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) on 250g / 8oz sliced economical beef cuts. What To Serve With Beef Stroganoff: 17 Great Side Dishes! Give it a gentle shake to combine. Subscribe for the latest updates on new recipes, and get started with our family's Top 25 Recipe eBook! The result is a silky mouthfeel and a flavor bomb in each bite! My name is Lalaine and welcome to Kawaling Pinoy. Place the dried meat in a bowl and pour the velveting mixture on top. 1 tablespoon cornstarch (use 1 1/2 tablespoons when velveting shrimp) 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon peanut oil (use 1 1/2 tablespoons when velveting shrimp) ~ Step 2. Thanks Nagi. Make a marinade with acidic componentssuch as citrus juice, buttermilk, Velveting. Usually it is easier to do two steps - brine/tenderize then velvet. Flank steak is by far the most popular cut of meat used by Chinese restaurants in all of their stir-fry dishes. Here are a few recipes that can serve as a starting point for your culinary velveting adventures: Velveting is an easy yet essential technique for Asian stir-fry. Place your beef in the mixture and coat evenly. in Cantonese, means passing through oil. It essentially refers to deep-frying. However, chemical compounds like baking soda can leave some taste in the meat. 2 teaspoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons Shaoxing Wine (Optional) Instructions Add baking soda and water to the sliced beef and massage with hands until most of the liquid is absorbed. Begin by mixing soy sauce, cornstarch or potato starch, and oil with meat. Refrigerate for 30 - 60 minutes. Ive personally found that even just marinating the protein without completing this extra step makes a huge difference. Some recipes, including soups, will only require cooking the beef in water as the final step. Clingy, glossy sauce! Whether you prefer them crispy, sticky, grilled or baked, take stock of these expert tips. Beef fried rice requires small chunks of meat to go with the small grains of rice. To give your velveted meat an. We have a lot of beef recipes in our archives here at The Woks of Life, so we wanted to show everyone how to prepare beef for stir-fry including the step-by-step process for velveting beef for Chinese cooking. Its soft and smooth. Heres how to do it at home. Also used for chicken, its a simple, highlyeffective technique using baking soda that transforms economical beef so its incredibly tender in stir friesand stir fried noodles. Salisbury steak meatballs with mushroom gravy, Chuck beef, gravy beef, oyster beef and other traditional stewing beef - 30 minutes, Economical steak cuts (eg. But its not even steaks range from economical to high quality. Shake off excess water, then use paper towels to blot away excess water (doesn't need to be 100% dry). I'm Kristy a chef and connoisseur of all things BBQ! Mix and work into the beef before marinating. When it turns opaque, cook for an additional 10 seconds (the chicken will be cooked 80% through). The pantry possibilities are, in theory, endless: oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or even ponzu for a light citrus twist. This is a game changer! Because this is a Chinese restaurant method, Im sharing this with stir frieslike Beef and Broccoliand stir fried noodles in mind. Toss with fingers to coat as evenly as possible. Just season the ribs with salt and pepper, pour the cream and vanilla and let it sit for about an hour. If you need more than that for your recipe, I suggest you do it in batches for the first attempt, so you dont mess things up. For shrimp, you can velvet it unless they are super fresh. Serve immediately. his method of tenderising beef is suitable for sliced or small bite size pieces of beef, not a whole steak. Cutting meat against the grain is very important to yield nice tender pieces in your stir-fry dishes. I have been velveting beef since I learned to make stroganoff. Randys dad still applies the water-blanching method when cooking soups. Recipes you want to make. Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @kawalingpinoy on Facebook and Instagram! This layer of cornstarch forms a barrier against the heat that the pan introducesbut also prevents the moisture from inside of the meat from escaping. Check out our detailed posts on: Velveting is an essential step when preparing chicken breast (or even dark meat) for stir-frying. Start by beating the egg in a bowl and lay it aside. However, I discovered two infallible and easier ways to perfectly velvet beef, with soy sauce and baking soda. Nagi x. Hungry for more? In a 1-cup measuring container, using a fork, whisk together all of the ingredients as listed. Whisk together until smooth and frothy. Nobody really knows what causes it, but if youve ever had a stringy or tough chicken breast, you may have experienced it. A chefs secret to slicing beef quickly is to freeze the meat partially for 30 to 60 minutes until firm. Cook for one minute or until the meat just turns opaque but is not cooked through. Recipes Beef 272 Show detail Preview View more Drizzle 2-3 tbsp of oil and stir fry the beef minced until no longer pink. Just like in stir fries made by your favourite Chinese restaurant! It has avelvety texture. The baking soda method is the simplest for every day purposes and just as effectivewhich is why its the method I use. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Adding Shaoxing wine (2 teaspoons per pound) also adds flavor, but is totally optional for those of you who would rather not consume alcohol. Then cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Cover and marinate in the fridge for about 30 minutes. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. To ensure the beef remains tender and juicy after cooking, stir-fry the marinated beef over high heat until 70% cooked. Often times, we dont oil- or water-blanch proteins and the meat texture is still tender though not restaurant-quality level, Lau says. * It sounds counterintuitive to tenderise steaks because one would assume if beef is sold labelled as steaks, that indicates theyre good for quick cooking (eg grilling) so it should be good for stir fries. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes (you can even leave to macerate overnight in the refrigerator). In that time, most of the liquid will be absorbed into the chicken. Master this marinating technique, and youll successfully prepare Chinese stir-fry dishes at home. Cornstarch, of course, added in the last minutes of cooking, or better yet, used to velvet the ingredientsto coat the pieces themselves in a cornstarch-based slurry. To find out if a soak longer than 15 to 20 minutes would do more harm than good, we treated 12 ounces each of ground beef, sliced chicken breast, and sliced pork with baking soda teaspoon for the beef and 1 teaspoon for the sliced meatsfor different lengths of time before cooking them. Then you have to coat it in baking soda for some minutes. Velveting is the foundation of Chinese cooking, says Tim Ma, chef and founder of Lucky Danger, an American Chinese takeout spot with locations in Arlington, VA, and Washington, D.C. It doesnt only tenderize tough, chewy parts of proteins, but it also creates a surface area to absorb thick sauces.. Step 2: Coat the chicken and let it sit Next time I will velvet beef flank. Heat over "warm" setting until thickened. When you freeze it and thaw it back out, you can use it for all types of recipes. The equivalent Chinese phrase. With a wok purloined from my parents kitchen and a fair amount of internet research from early-aughts food blogs like Appetite for China, I taught myself the art of the stir-fry, from kitchen sink-style fried rice to shrimp-flavored chayote squash finished off with a last-minute steam. If using flank steak, trim off any white muscle membranes, and cut your flank steak along the grain lengthwise into 2 to 2 1/2 inch strips. Subscribe to our email list and be sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube! Add meat and cook, stirring as needed, for about 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. To marinate chicken for stir fries, we use a simple mixture of water, oil, cornstarch, and a flavor agent like soy sauce or oyster sauce. Join our newsletter to get new recipe updates, a free copy of our The Best Filipino Dinners Cookbook, exclusive meal plans, and more. If youre not ready to stir-fry, you can season the meat after the soda has been rinsed off and refrigerate or freeze it. With just one extra step, Im my own favorite take-out joint. Tenderised beef can be stir fried the traditional way hard and fast on a hot stove in mere minutes or even deep or shallow fried in oil like in this Crispy Mongolian Beef(pictured below). Other ingredients that are often added to the initial marinade include salt, pepper, and other ground spices. Baking soda is a powerful tenderizer, but if too much is added, it can add an off-taste to the beef, which is why it is rinsed off. Directions. So the beef flavour will only be as good as the cut you use. Ad Choices. When it starts to smoke lightly, add a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil to coat the surface of the wok. Tenderizing your beef is the first step of the traditional process of velveting beef practices by Chinese chefs. You can also use tenderised beef in place of chicken or pork in any of the stir fries. When slicing the flank steak into small pieces, slice against the grain (perpendicular to the long lines of muscle). Set aside to marinate for 15-30 minutes, and then your beef is ready to use. If peanut oil is unavailable, award-winning cookbook author Grace Young suggests using oil with higher smoke points like grapeseed, avocado, rice bran, safflower or vegetable oil. Bring to a boil. First, slice your chicken into 1 to 2 inch pieces, about inch thick. I feel there are merits to having both moist hydrated beef or a drier beef for some stir-fry dishes. Make sure to browse around and pick a favorite dish or two. That is the nature of peasant food making the most of whats available. Have you ever tried stir-frying chicken, only to have it appear (and taste) dry in the finished dish?