‘Velveting’ May Be The Secret To Cooking Great Chinese Food At Home

If you’ve ever tried to recapture the magic of Chinese food at home, but fell just a tad short from the perfect dish, there might just be a reason for that.

According to GrubStreet, there’s actually a technique most people don’t know about that’s supposed to bring out the best possible flavor in Chinese cooking. No, it’s not MSG.

Called velveting, the technique is said to make the meat in Chinese food soft and tender.

To try this, you’ll need some egg white, cornstarch, and rice wine. Just marinate your meat in the mixture and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes. Then, blanche the meat in boiling water or hot oil for about thirty seconds. Finally, remove from the heat and start cooking your proteins in the way you would before that extra step.

It makes us wonder what other ancient cooking secrets of the world are out there. Our carne asada tacos have been missing that extra ‘umph’ of flavor. And don’t get us started on our sub-par tonkotsu broth.

I’m gonna have to try this velveting technique out over the weekend. For science. Chinese take out really adds up, y’know.