How to make tender Chicken Breast Fillets

[hellokitty]

Hi everyone, just thought I would add this as my first food post.

I am not a fan of chicken breasts because I find them a bit dry and tough when not cooked well. I can only eat them when they have been steamed or poached (like in Hainanese or Soy Sauce Chicken Rice)

However, I tried to prepare them the classic Chinese way the other day - and my oh my, I love eating chicken breasts now!

It is actually a technique called velveting chicken (not the same as a recipe called Chicken Velvet which is minced chicken breasts added to soups etc).

To velvet chicken, slice the breast into bite-sized pieces (this step is optional: I gently pound or pat the pieces with the back of a knife or meat mallet at this stage as I like them super tender). Next, sprinkle some corn flour over the chicken pieces, as well as some salt or soy sauce to taste, and egg white (use the white of 1 egg for about 450g of chicken). Use your fingers to combine all ingredients and coat evenly. Set aside for about 30 minutes. Fry the chicken pieces in a pan with some oil (it has to have some oil). Use for stir fries and noodle dishes.

I was very impressed by the way it worked perfectly for me when I was making a noodle dish. The chicken was extremely tasty and tender.

I have tried it without the egg white too, and it is also pretty tender. And finally, for an even more Chinese touch, you can also add a sprinkling of Shaoxing or rice wine in the velveting.

Hope to hear from anyone who gives it a go!

PS Sorry, it was late last night when I posted this lol - I forgot to add - don't use too much cornflour in the velveting - maximum 1 tablespoon per 450g.

[SocialGirl]

Sounds tasty HK....

[old woman]

I eat a lot of chicken so I will give this a go. Would it work if using the chicken for curry?

[Di Nana]

Sounds way to complicated for me, I don't like working with corn flour, it can do strange things to my dishes, sounds like you are a good cook and enjoy it
guess I will never know what a tender breast is like
It would frighten the family now if I was to cook something they didn't have to use a steak knife for

[Heather]

Sounds good.

[hellokitty]

It was, SG

[hellokitty]

Theoretically, it should work, OW - or at least, I think LOL. I haven't gone as far with this yet lol. Sounds like a great idea! You could velvet the chicken and then cook it according to the curry recipe you have.

[hellokitty]

LOL! Very funny about the steak knife DN I used to be the same with cornflour. Used it to thicken stuff and it came out strange sometimes. I think coz I sprinkled it directly into the cooking. I now do it (I think it is also a Chinese way) by mixing the cornflour with water first to dissolve it (it becomes a white liquid) and then this is added to a hot sauce or stock or stew and stirred around very quickly to make sure it doesn't go gluggy in spots. It leaves no lumps like plain flour can sometimes.

I was quite skeptical about the velveting (the first time I heard about it was in 2001!!). I didn't actually think the cornflour would work so I never bothered to try it until now lol. I am going through a stage of trying new things at the moment, and am glad I tried the velveting coz it means less fat in my diet (and hopefully more weight loss LOL).

[hellokitty]

Yes it was good, Heather

[kangaroo_jane]

I'd love to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!