How To Velvet Chicken

Tired of dry and chewy chicken breast in your stir fries, Chinese dishes and Thai or Indian curries etc.?

This technique is just the most amazing way of keeping chicken breast pieces moist and tender (even though it's hard to make lightly poached chicken pieces look appetising in a photo!).

You can either poach in water or shallow fry, depending on your preference. Personally, I like to lightly poach as a healthier option. You could use this technique for almost any chicken dish as the flavour is so neutral.

Ingredients
(To serve four)

• 450-500g chicken breast, cubed or thickly sliced
• 2 egg whites
• 4 tsp cornflour
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  

Method

1. Thoroughly combine the egg whites, cornflour and salt (e.g. with a whisk).

2. Stir in the chicken pieces and leave for at least 20 minutes, but they will be fine if left for several hours or even overnight.

3. Either blanch in simmering water or shallow fry until it has just turned white before adding to your hot sauce or stir fry etc. for a few minutes until just cooked through - test a large piece (or you can cook it through iin the water / oil first if you prefer and set aside, see below).

4. If you've cooked the chicken all the way through as part of your ingredients prep, then rinse it under cold water immediately to cool it down quickly and chill until you're ready to use it. It will only need a minute or two to reheat through in a hot sauce or stir fry (as it's already cooked).