How is chicken breast tenderized at the chinese food restaurants?

7 responses so far ↓

• 1 Hartigan // Jul 9, 2008

  Its not chicken its a cat

• 2 plushy_bear // Jul 9, 2008

  Some will still use MSG; a lot will do what the rest of us do - pound the stuffing (so to speak!) out of it!

• 3 RCrumb // Jul 9, 2008

  My secret, learned the hard way;— The best way to tenderize almost any type of cheap meat cuts is soaking them overnight in a mixture of Sprite and chopped onions…. That also helps get the freezer burn out of meat, if it has any. Honestly, try it, you'll like it.

• 4 Ozeki // Jul 9, 2008

  beaten with tenderizer mallet

• 5 Chef Noah // Jul 9, 2008

  The reason that the chicken you find in most Chinese takeout is tender has absolutely nothing to do with MSG, a flavoring agent, nor does it have anything to do with a mallet.

  Typical American-Chinese food is, whether you know it or not, battered and fried. Battering and frying small pieces of chicken at a proper temperature produces extremely tender chicken. In addition, the dark meat of the chicken (mainly thigh) is less expensive for the restaurant, and more tender, and most commonly used. Lastly, the addition of thick and sweet sauces add a final layer of moisture, just as gravy does on the Thanksgiving turkey.

• 6 michael G // Jul 9, 2008

  It's velveted.

  How to velvet chicken:

  If you've ever wondered why the dishes you get in Chinese restaurants are different from your attempts at home, the answer could well be: velveting. Sounds..well…odd, doesn't it? But velveting is just a method of marinating and pre-cooking the meat to make it fluffy and tender prior to incorporating it into the dish. The wonderful thing about this, of course, is that it can be done in advance, thus reducing that frantic rushing around the kitchen that always happens when you try to cook more than one Chinese dish at a time.

  Here's what you'll need:

  1 lb boneless chicken breasts 1/2 tsp salt
  1 large egg white 1 tbl cornstarch
  1 tbl oil 1 tbl rice wine or dry sherry
  2 cups oil for frying

  Remove any skin from the chicken and cut it into whatever sized pieces the recipe for your final dish calls for (shreds, slices, cubes, etc.). Put the chicken into a mixing bowl, then add the salt and rice wine and stir.

  Beat the egg white until the gel is broken - it should not be frothy (this could cause the coating to puff and disintegrate. Add the egg white to the chicken, sprinkle in the cornstarch, and mix well.

  Add the tablespoon of oil and stir until smooth (slimy is the texture we're going for here!). Place the bowl in the fridge and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes, so the coating has time to adhere to the meat.

  - chef instructor.

• 7 christnp // Jul 9, 2008

  It's all in the cooking. It's sliced very thin and cooked very quickly at high temperature, and not overcooked.