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Forget calling for take-out…this Velvet Chicken with Vegetables is easy to make, and just as delicious as the version served at your favorite Asian restaurant.
One of my favorite Chinese take-out dishes is Velvet Chicken with Vegetables. Anytime we eat at an Asian restaurant, I order this dish with its fork-tender pieces of chicken, combined with crisp vegetables in a very flavorful sauce. (YUM!)
Did you know that recreating Velvet Chicken with Vegetables at home is actually very simple?!
The name of the dish, Velvet Chicken, refers to a Chinese cooking technique used in stir-frying called ‘velveting’ that prevents the chicken from overcooking and becoming tough.
How do you make Velvet Chicken?
After marinating the chicken pieces in an egg white and corn starch mixture, the chicken is partially cooked (sometimes in hot oil, other times in hot water) until it turns white.
This process helps give the chicken that distinctive soft, tender and ‘velvety’ texture.
The chicken can be combined with other ingredients — such as the vegetables we used in this recipe — then stir-fried where it finishes cooking but still retains that soft and fork-tender texture.
Serve your Velvet Chicken with Vegetables along side some basmati rice for a simple but very delicious meal.
And — once you’ve learned this velveting technique, it can be used for any other recipes that call for soft and tender chicken pieces.
This Velvet Chicken with Vegetables recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in February 2013. We’ve updated the photos and made some minor edits to the recipe.
You may like these other Asian recipes:
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Crab Rangoon
- Healthier Mongolian Beef and Broccoli
- Asian Chicken Soup
- Egg Foo Young
Interested in more chicken recipes?
Click here for our 100+ Best Chicken Recipes.
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Velvet Chicken with Vegetables
With stir-fry cooking, all ingredients must be prepped and ready to go in advance of cooking. Once you heat the wok and start to cook, the process is fast so adequate preparation is a must. For this dish, you can prepare all of the other ingredients while the chicken is marinating.
Ingredients
- White rice if using
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (about two breast halves)
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons sherry or rice wine
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2/3 cup chicken stock (homemade or canned)
- 4 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons sherry or rice wine
- 6 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 1 cup Shiitake mushrooms, sliced with stems removed
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 3 chopped scallions (keep the white bottoms separate from green tops when slicing)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 cups cleaned and trimmed bok choy, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup snow peas
Instructions
- If serving with white rice, start cooking that now and hold until dish is finished.
- Cut the chicken into flat bite size slices that are ¼ inch thick and two inches square – being sure to cut against the grain of the meat. (This gives it extra tenderness.)
- Combine egg white, 1 tablespoon corn starch, 2 teaspoons sherry (or rice wine) and ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add in 1 tablespoon of the canola oil and stir to combine. Add the chicken pieces and mix so the chicken is completely coated. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix the chicken stock, soy sauce, white pepper, cornstarch and sherry or rice wine. Set aside.
- Bring the water to a boil and add in 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Remove from the heat and place chicken pieces in the hot water. With a spoon, separate the chicken pieces and quickly cover the pot. Let the chicken sit in the hot water for two minutes until it is partially cooked but not cooked through. Remove chicken to a platter and reserve. Discard the marinade and water.
- In a hot wok, heat to very hot. Add in 1 tablespoon of peanut oil. Stir-fry mushrooms for about 2 minutes or until tender. Remove from the wok and set aside. (Cooking mushrooms separately is necessary because most home stoves can’t get a wok hot enough to cook all the vegetables at once.)
- When the wok is back to hot, add in the next 1 tablespoon of peanut oil, the white part of the chopped scallions, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes, and stir about 10 seconds.
- Add bok choy and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir fry until the bok choy is almost tender, about three minutes. Add in the cooked mushrooms and snow peas and stir-fry an additional minute.
- Add in cooked chicken and chicken stock mixture. Heat just until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. (about 30 to 60 seconds).
- Serve stir-fry over rice and top with remaining chopped scallion tops.
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