The Art of Eating No. 78: Velveting, Deep-Frying, Stir-Frying, and General Tso's Chicken

This article by Ed Schoenfeld from the summer issue of Art of Eating has introduced us to a new cooking technique: velveting!

Sometimes called "twice-cooking," velveting is a traditional Chinese cooking method that involves first deep-frying the recipe's main ingredients and then stir-frying them in an aromatic sauce. Schoenfeld describes the resulting dish as having a "luscious soft texture."

This had our mouths watering. What about yours?!

Our fries and onion rings are usually deep-fried in oil that's been heated to around 375-degrees. For velveting, the oil temperature is relatively low--around 280-degrees Fahrenheit.

Normally, a lower oil temperature would mean that the food absorbs oil instead of frying, making it greasy. But Schoenfeld describes velveting as a quick process taking less than 60 seconds. We think that some oil would be absorbed, but not enough to make the food soggy.

Schoenfeld also emphasizes that the point of velveting is more about texture than it is about flavor. As he says, "first you set the texture, then you flavor the food. Rule number one in Chinese cooking: texture is king."

In western cooking, we're more accustomed to thinking of flavor first and texture second, so this definitely gave us pause for thought.

And then we got hungry for Chinese food.

Schoenberg recommends General Tso's Chicken! This ever-popular dish was originally prepared using this velveting technique, though it has since evolved to it's current American incarnation of crispy-fried chicken tossed in sweet sauce.

"Deep-frying" was a deal-breaker for many of us, but still, this idea of velveting has appeal!

Has anyone ever tried it at home?

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(Images: Flickr member SqueakyMarmot licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (5)

I tried not only the velveting in oil, but also velveting in water, which works very well and makes life a little simpler - I always prefer to avoid having to deal with leftover oil

the fantastic book from Barbara Tropp (The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking) explains quite well how to do it and uses the method in plenty of recipes.

Once you do it once, you never go back to a simple stir fry again - the difference in the final product, especially poultry stir fry, is unreal!

I use velveting in most of my chinese cooking be it chicken, beef, fish or seafood. It is very simple actually - just add corn starch, rice wine, light soya sauce (or salt) pepper and egg white and coat the chosen meat leave to marinate for not more than 20 minutes and fry for one or 2 minutes. The meat shouldn't be browned or cooked. And later add the meat into the sauce or other veggies when stir frying.
This is the technique to get that *restaurant meat* texture.

i have a recipe from cooks' illustrated for velveted chicken. it's the only way i'll prepare chicken for a stir fry! so good.

http://threadtrace.wordpress.com

One of my favorite Chinese dishes is dry-fried green beans - and it uses the velveting technique: First the beans are deep-fried and then stir-fried with ground pork, rice wine, soy sauce, chiles, garlic, ginger and sichuan pepper. Yummy!

wenkexin,
That sounds amazing! I've got to try that soon.