Name: The SECRET to tender chicken: Velveting Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 200g Chicken breast, sliced thinly against the grain; 1/4 tsp Baking soda; 2-3 tbs Water; 2 tbs Cornstarch; 1 tsp Chicken bouillon powder; 1 tsp Yumyum aka MSG; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1/2 tsp Sugar; 1/2 tsp White pepper; 1 tbsp Cooking oil; 1 tsp Sesame oil; 1 tsp Cooking wine

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Do you ever think to yourself how your favorite Chinese restaurant has the most TENDER chicken in their stir-fries? The secret is velveting chicken!

Table of Contents

What is Velveting Chicken?

This is a secret so many Chinese restaurants use to create the best chicken texture in their dishes. Not only does it tenderize the chicken it also adds extra flavor and moisture to the chicken making it incredibly juicy and flavourful too.

How do Chinese restaurants velvet their chicken?

Typically there are a couple of different ways restaurants use to velvet their chicken most Chinese restaurants use baking soda and cornstarch for the best results. However, a couple of other methods include using:

Chemical tenderisers
Egg whites
Cornstarch slurry

How to make velveted chicken

Thinly slice your chicken breast against the grain into thin strips.

thinly sliced chicken breast with cornstarch

Add the chicken to a bowl with cornstarch and water and massage the chicken until it absorbs most of the water. Then add the remaining seasonings and stir until well combined.

How to cook velveted chicken

Once the chicken has been velveted and marinated there are a couple of different ways it can be cooked depending on the use in your dish. The most common method in Chinese restaurants is deep frying aka oil velveting. However, the chicken can also be:

Pan-fried in a skillet or wok
Blanched in water or cooked in a broth
Coated in a batter to be deep-fried

To oil velvet the chicken simply heat the oil in your wok over high heat and flash fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through. Then strain the chicken from the oil.

Here you can see the difference between velveted and not velveted chicken. The chicken on the left looks a lot shinier and softer, whereas you can see all the fibers of the chicken on the right. The fibers mean that the chicken is drier and tougher.

comparison between velveted and not velveted chicken — Velveted chicken on the bottom and regular chicken on the top

What is oil velveting?

The technique that I use when cooking the velveted chicken is called oil velveting or guo you (过油), which means “passing through oil.” This is when the chicken is deep-fried. This technique creates a super soft chicken that is perfectly cooked and is typically used when cooking stir fries.

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