The tender and juicy method of chicken stir fry like in a Chinese restaurant is actually quite simple, without the need to add baking soda or chemical tenderizers like red meat.
Just cut the chicken against the grain direction, and add beaten egg and cornstarch to marinate the chicken. So you can make any chicken stir fry dish as delicious as in a Chinese restaurant.
You might also be interested in How to tenderize beef / pork for stir fry. How to make chicken bone broth (cheaper than chicken broth).
Tip for cutting chicken
Cut the chicken breast or drumsticks against the grain direction to separate the tissue and make the bite easier, and this is also the point where the chicken breast and drumsticks become tender.
- Cut the chicken breast into 2 slices. PRO TIP: so each piece of chicken breast has the same thickness and is easy to cook.
- Tap the chicken lightly with the back of the knife against the direction of the grain. PRO TIP: This mainly destroys the fibers and makes the meat more tender.
- Cut the chicken breast against the fiber direction into 3cm*3cm slices or other sizes and thicknesses. PRO TIP: This will make the chicken breast more tender and juicy.
How to tenderize chicken
The following methods are commonly used in Chinese restaurants to tenderize chicken breasts or legs for stir-fry dishes. They’re a Chinese restaurant secret called “velvet chicken.”
- Whisked egg – locks the moisture in the chicken.
- Shaoxing wine or rice wine (sherry wine) – especially to remove the smell of meat.
- Cornstarch – especially to tenderize the chicken.
- Oil – so that the chicken won’t stick toghter to the pan so easily when frying.
The order is that you first add the beaten egg, the rice wine, and the other ingredients (such as soy sauce…). After stirring for a while, you add cornstarch and oil at the end. It usually takes at least 10 minutes to marinate the chicken. This will allow the chicken to absorb the sauce better. Dishese such as: Moo Goo Gai Pan, Kung Pao Chicken, Chicken With Broccoli
How to make chicken crispy in a stir fry
- Add Cornstarch- Before stir fry, dip both sides of the chicken in the cornstarch and separate, but let it get wet for pan fry. This step is after marinating the chicken.
- PRO TIP: After dipping, let the cornstarch, rest for 5 minutes before frying. This will help the cornstarch stick to the meat and make it crispier and not come off during frying.
- Add the chicken in a single layer, don’t flip, but wait 3~4 minutes before flipping the other side. Fry it until it’s golden brown and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
- PRO TIP: When the chicken is placed in the pan, dip it in the oil in the pan to make it crispier.
The dishes that usually use this method: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Mongolian Chicken
You can refer to my early post about how to tenderize beef for stir fry.
More chicken stir fry recipes:
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Chicken With Broccoli
- Mongolian Chicken
- Moo Shu Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Honey Garlic Chicken
I hope it helps you with some information.
I want to make pork fried rice how can I tenderize the pork or is there such a thing sometimes when I fry pork chops, I tend to curl up now I make a slit in the middle and cut them on the side. This will stop the curling, but I wanted to know how to get tender pieces of pork for stirfry.
Hi Denisce~ You can check out the post on tenderizing beef and pork for stir fry dishes. There are several ways to tenderize pork. And cutting pork against the grain direction is also an important way to make red meat.
In another post, I show how to tenderize pork chops. And break up the tendons (the white part on the edge of the meat) so the meat doesn’t shrink and curl into small pieces when you fry it.