For His Master's Veneration: Can you velvet?

Tonight I learned a technique I had never heard of and can't wait to pass it along. It is called “Velveting”.

This technique is used in far eastern cooking and in spite of all these decades of cooking I had never heard of it. Velveting does more than tenderize your basic meat—it creates a protective coating that browns it more evenly, seals in its juices, and improves overall sauce adhesion.

As the meat is velveted, it is marinated in a base mixture of salt, liquid, and cornstarch for at least 30 minutes. After marinating, the meat can be tossed into a wok and flash-fried with oil over high heat. However most home cooks prefer to blanch the meat for about 2 mins. It is removed from the water and left to cool and drain.

Meanwhile, the rest of the ingredients (such as the vegetables and/or sauce) are cooked. The meat is then added to the mix at the end for a short sauté with the prepared sauce before being served.

The most important part of this process and the key to velveting is the marinade: the meat needs at least half an hour to ensure that every microscopic inch of its surface is enrobed with the cornstarch slurry. This layer of cornstarch forms a barrier against the heat that the pan introduces—but also prevents the moisture from inside of the meat from escaping. The blanching, or flash-frying, is another step that enforces the barrier; the outside of the meat cooks so quickly that it seals the natural juiciness.

Lastly, adding the meat a few minutes before the dish is complete allows it to heat up to the same temperature as the rest of the meal without prolonged exposure to more heat (which will create a loss of moisture and a tougher texture).

The traditional method for velveting uses a large amount of oil. Water blanching is much more friendly for home cooking. Simply boil enough water to cover the amount of meat you are velveting, then add the meat and cook until it becomes opaque. Drain the meat, then use it in your preferred recipe.

Velveted meat tastes best with preparations that are heavy on sauce and flavor.

So tonight I thought I would try. To make things easier I started off with a frozen bag of chicken fried rice. The kind you add to the skillet frozen, cook for 10 mins and you are done.

In a large bowl I mixed 2 Tbs of cornstarch with 2 Tbs of soy sauce and 2 Tbs of sesame oil. This was stirred well to make sure no lumps remained.

For the meat I had three boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I cut them into traditional bite sized chunks. These were tossed into the marinade and mixed well.

I covered this and placed in refrigerator. For 30 mins. After about 15 mins I started a big pot of water to get it boiling, (my stove takes forever for this).

When the half hour was up and the pot was boiling, I dropped the chicken bites in and gave them a stir to make sure they separated. After 2 minutes, I pulled them out and placed in a drainer.

Now a large skillet was sprayed and placed on the hot element. I added 2 Tbs of oil and when hot, the drained chicken was placed in the pan. I let this fry for about 6 minutes. Then turned to the directions on the bag. Add the sauce and dump the contents in. Stir well. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.