Velveting Chicken Breasts

Preparation info
    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

  • About

Velveting is a standard step in the preparation of numerous stir-fried chicken breast dishes. It involves coating the chicken pieces in a mixture of egg white and cornstarch and partially precooking them in warm oil or hot water. The coating and preliminary blanching give the chicken a velvety smooth texture; hence the name. Velveting does not brown the chicken; it only firms it up before a final stir-frying with other ingredients, and can be done in advance. Try making the recipe th