Do you ever notice how tender the chicken is in your favorite Chinese restaurant’s stir fries? That’s because they use a simple technique called “Velveting Chicken” with baking soda to make the chicken tender.
It’s a quick and easy method that any home cook can do, and can also be used for beef. Use this for all your favourite Chinese chicken dishes, like Cashew Chicken, Chicken Stir Fry, Chow Mein and Kung Pao Chicken. This is a game changer!.
Chinese restaurants keep this secret from customers, but it will change the way you make stir fries and stir fried noodles with chicken breast.
This is how Chinese people make chicken breast so incredibly soft and juicy. It’s called “velveting chicken.”
Chinese restaurants are famous for their incredibly tender and juicy chicken dishes like kung pao chicken cashew chicken, and chicken stir fry. So how do they make their chicken so tender when chicken breast tends to be lean and can easily dry out? After some research I discovered the secret technique that Chinese restaurants have been using for years – velveting chicken.
What is Velveting Chicken?
It’s easy and very effective to tenderize chicken breast to make it super tender and juicy by velveting it. To do this, you need to mix sliced chicken breast with baking soda, let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes, and then rinse it well before cooking as you like.
The baking soda breaks down the muscle fibers in the chicken to make it soft and tender, almost giving it a “velvety” texture, hence the name velveting But it doesn’t affect the chicken flavor at all The chicken just becomes incredibly soft and juicy after velveting.
Why Velvet Chicken?
Chicken breast is notoriously tricky to cook to keep it moist and tender It’s very lean so it can easily dry out and turn rubbery during cooking. Velveting chicken breast before stir frying or other high heat methods helps ensure it stays tender and juicy
On its own, dark meat like chicken thighs is more juicy and tender, but breast meat has less fat and calories. When you velvet meat, you get the tenderness of dark meat and the leanness of white breast meat. It’s really the best of both worlds!.
How Chinese Restaurants Velvet Their Chicken
From my research, most Chinese restaurants use one of three methods to tenderize their chicken:
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Baking soda velveting – This is the quick and easy technique I described earlier. Toss sliced chicken with baking soda, rest, then rinse.
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Cornstarch slurry – Coating chicken pieces in a starchy cornstarch slurry dips also helps tenderize. The chicken can then be blanched or deep fried.
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Meat tenderizer – Commercial meat tenderizing powder contains enzymes that also help break down chicken muscle fiber.
For home cooks, the baking soda method is by far the easiest way to make velvet. I was able to make tender chicken like they do in restaurants without all the mess and trouble of the cornstarch slurry method.
How to Velvet Chicken at Home
Velveting chicken at home is so easy:
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Cut chicken breast into thin slices or bite size pieces. It’s important not to use whole breasts or they’ll end up unevenly tenderized.
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Toss the chicken with baking soda – about 3/4 tsp for every 250g / 8oz chicken. Massage to evenly coat.
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Rest for 20-30 minutes for the baking soda to work its magic.
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Rinse well then pat dry with paper towels.
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Cook as desired – stir fry, pan fry, simmer in broth, etc.
And that’s it! I like to stir fry my velveted chicken in a flavorful homemade stir fry sauce for quick, restaurant quality meals.
Velveting Times for Chicken
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Thin slices – velvet for 20 minutes
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Bite sized pieces – velvet for 30 minutes
You don’t want to velvet the chicken too much or it will get too soft. To tenderize whole chicken breasts, it’s better to use a wet brine or marinade.
How to Tell if Chicken is Properly Velveted
After rinsing and patting the chicken dry, you should notice:
- Chicken feels very soft and silky smooth
- Surface looks somewhat puffy
- Meat seems to indent easily when pressed gently
This shows the velveting process has successfully tenderized the chicken. When cooked, it will be incredibly tender, moist and juicy.
Recipes to Use Velveted Chicken
Velveted chicken is ideal for any Chinese chicken stir fry recipes:
- Cashew Chicken
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Chicken Chow Mein
- Chicken Lo Mein
- Sweet & Sour Chicken
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Chicken Stir Fry
You can also use tenderized chicken in:
- Soups – Hot & Sour Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup
- Curries – Thai Red Curry, Coconut Curry Chicken
- Fried Rice
- Meal Salads – Chinese Chicken Salad
Any recipe calling for quick cooking sliced or diced chicken breast can benefit from velveting. Just avoid prolonged cooking methods like roasting or grilling whole breasts.
Is Velveting Chicken Safe?
Some people may be hesitant to use baking soda on raw chicken. Rest assured that as long as the chicken is rinsed thoroughly after velveting, it is completely safe. The USDA confirms that baking soda is an approved method of tenderizing meats.
Any lingering baking soda gets rinsed away, leaving tenderized chicken that is perfectly safe to eat. Make sure to pat it dry before cooking too.
Velveting Other Meats
While designed for chicken breast, you can also use this velveting technique to tenderize other lean meats like pork and beef. It works great on pork tenderloin and flank steak sliced for stir fries.
Adjust the velveting time based on thickness. Thin slices only need 20 minutes while thicker cuts may need up to an hour. Rinse then dry well before cooking as desired.
Get Restaurant Tender Chicken at Home!
Now that you know how simple it is to velvet chicken at home, you can skip takeout and start enjoying restaurant quality chicken dishes in your own kitchen. Velveting makes chicken breast unbelievably tender and juicy, while still keeping it lean and healthy.
Velveting Chicken: Tenderise chicken the Chinese restaurant way!
Here’s how to velvet chicken:
- Add 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda (bi-carb) to each 250g/8oz piece or strip of chicken breast.
- Marinate for 20 minutes
- To get rid of extra water, rinse well under running water and pat with a paper towel.
- Follow the directions on the recipe and be amazed at the juiciest chicken breast you’ve ever had, just like at a Chinese restaurant!!!
I only tenderise chicken breast because it’s so lean. I find chicken thigh tender and juicy enough to use without tenderising.
Velveting chicken does not add any flavour so it tastes just like normal chicken. It is the texture that is affected. The chicken fibres are broken down so the chicken becomes much softer on the inside and surface. “Velvet” like – hence the name!.
How to cook velveted chicken
After the chicken has been velveted, you can marinate it in either liquid or dry spices. Then just cook it as the recipe directs.
Tenderised chicken can be:
- cooked in a wok or skillet, like in stir fries and stir fried noodles;
- it should be cooked in broth and added to Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup. Just drop it in raw and it will cook in two minutes; or
- deep fried.
I don’t bake chicken pieces for Chinese recipes, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
How Chinese Chefs Velvet Chicken MASTER CLASS Mum and Son professional chefs cook
FAQ
What kind of chicken do Chinese restaurants use?
Chinese restaurants mostly use chicken breast for dishes like chicken and broccoli. To make the meat silky and smooth, they often tenderize it by “velveting.”
Why is chicken in Chinese restaurants so tender?
Chinese restaurants achieve exceptionally tender chicken through a process called velveting. For this method, the chicken is first marinated in a mixture of cornstarch, egg whites, and other ingredients. It is then quickly cooked in oil or hot water, a process that is also known as blanching or flash-frying.
Why is chicken from Chinese restaurants different?
Chicken from Chinese restaurants often has a distinctive, tender, and silky texture due to a marination process called velveting.