6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken: Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes for Dinner with Few Ingredients (2024)

FAQs

How do the Chinese get their chicken so tender? ›

Ever notice how the chicken in stir fries at your favourite Chinese restaurant is incredibly tender? It's because they tenderise chicken using a simple method called Velveting Chicken using baking soda. It's a quick and easy method that any home cook can do, and can also be used for beef.

Kung Pao Chicken

A spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish made with cubes of chicken, peanuts, vegetables, and chili peppers.

To marinate chicken for stir fries, we use a simple mixture of water, oil, cornstarch, and a flavor agent like soy sauce or oyster sauce. Other ingredients, like Shaoxing wine or sesame oil, may also be layered in.

Home Cook Method (fast and easy): A popular Chinese chicken stir fry marinade method is to combine a small amount of baking soda, starch, and oil and marinate for 10-15 minutes. Stir-fry in a hot wok for meat that's tender inside and crispy outside.

The best tenderizer though, is a salted yogurt marinade. The salt has the same effect as in a regular brine, but the lactic acid in the yogurt further tenderizes the meat. A 15-minute marinade with one cup of yogurt and one teaspoon of salt makes for the most tender chicken breasts imaginable.

They're super flavorful from a simple marination process that includes spices, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, and Shaoxing wine.

While there are several ways to velvet, a pound of meat needs about two teaspoons of cornstarch and two teaspoons of oil, says Leung. You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing. Additional seasonings are optional and vary from recipe to recipe.

This is done by first poaching the chicken in water with spices (e.g. star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, Sichuan pepper, ginger, fennel, and scallions), drying it, coating with a syrup of vinegar and sugar, letting it dry thoroughly (which helps make the skin crispy) and deep-frying.

You might have wondered why most chefs or cooks prefer to soak their chicken in buttermilk or yogurt overnight. Well, the answer is simple: they are tenderizing the chicken for cooking later, and that's the secret behind their super delicious, juicy chicken.

Velveting is a simple process of using baking soda or a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and oil to marinate and tenderize economical cuts of steak, chicken and other meats before cooking. Velveting meat softens fibers to reduce toughness and enhance juiciness for maximum flavor and tenderness.

What is the most common Chinese cooking method? ›

Perhaps the most common method of Chinese cooking is stir-frying. A quick and simple method, all you have to do is chuck the ingredients in a wok and cook on high heat for a short period of time.

Stir-Fry is the ultimate classic Chinese cooking technique and is the most frequently used. It's quick and easy and infuses all of the delicious flavours. Chinese stir-fry is usually made up of a mix of vegetables, meat and seafood and is then served with rice or noodles.

Why is Panda Express chicken so soft? Chinese restaurants use a cooking technique called velveting. One method is to marinate the meat with cornstarch to create a moist, velvety soft texture. Another method is to coat the meat in baking soda for about 20 to 30 minutes, rinse, and use in the recipe as directed.

Velveting chicken is a fantastic technique for dishes with smaller pieces of meat. It unlocks restaurant-level meat tenderness in your own home! This technique can be used for all sorts of different dishes, such as: Remember, you don't have to limit this technique to chicken.

Because most of them are Boiled Chicken, hence you might have that feeling of rubbery, actually they are better than fried.