Q: Both Pei Wei and PF Chang's restaurants offer stock-velveted meats on their menus. I have tried finding a recipe for stock-velveting at home, but can't find one. Any tips on how to do this at home?
Sent by Melissa
Editor: Stock-velveting is a riff on the Chinese method of velveting or twice-cooking. For the traditional cooking technique, meats and other main ingredients are first deep-fried in oil and then stir-fried with aromatics.
Stock-velveting takes a similar approach but poaches the ingredients in stock rather than oil before the stir-fry step. This results in a dish with much less fat but with similar textures and flavors as the traditional (though Chinese food aficionados will be quick to point out that there's really no comparison with true twice-cooked dishes).
I didn't have much luck finding recipes either. I'd suggest just jumping into the kitchen and giving the "poach then stir-fry" method a try! Poach meats until they are just barely cooked and vegetables until they are crisp-tender. Then stir-fry them very quickly over high heat so they stay moist and don't dry out.
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Readers, do you have any recipe suggestions or other ideas?
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Here is a great article on the process: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2017334823_pacificptaste05.html
That article is interesting, and reasonable, but uses water, not stock. I'd have to imagine that stock will provide significant flavor improvements. I haven't tried this, but my gut says to add ginger, scallions, perhaps garlic to the stock.
By the way, what's up with what passes for Kung Pao chicken these days? See Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty for the real thing. Most non-Sichuan-specific restaurants serve a generic stir-fried chicken that just happens to have peanuts and dried chiles. No heat to speak of, too many veg (Dunlop's recipe has only scallions, but I'd permit a little carrot, mushroom and/or bell pepper, so long as there's no celery), no sour-sweet (sugar + black vinegar), no garlic-ginger punch, and no finesse in the presentation (everything should be cubed to the size of the cross-section of a large scallion). The last one I had resisted all efforts to add flavor to it, I won't be carrying out from there again.
How to velvet chicken: http://chinesefood.about.com/b/2006/11/30/how-to-velvet-chicken.htm
@Joelfinkle: I agree that much of the food served in Chinese restaurants (even high-end ones) is disappointingly bland, and if any particular taste does stand out, it is saltiness (often from MSG, unfortunately). I love Fuchsia Dunlop's cooking and writing - you are better off using her recipes if you want an authentic Chinese taste! Anyway, double-frying is really unhealthy - each slice of meat absorbs oil (twice!) over its whole surface area.