Velveting

Food such as poultry, pork, beef, fish or seafood is often coated with egg white and cornflour to seal in the moisture and flavour while the food is cooking. This technique is mainly used for chicken breasts, prawns, scallops or delicately flavoured fish. The coated food is refrigerated for twenty minutes to allow the egg white to set. Then it is added to just-warmed oil to partially cook. The dish is quickly finished by stir-frying. This method of cooking produces particularly tender and moist textures.