"Velveting"

[OliverB]

Since I just read about this (new to me) process in Grace Young's "Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge", here's a short run down of what she says:

..typically accomplished by briefly marinating bite sized pieces of beef (etc) in a standard combination of egg white, cornstarch, and a little water or rice wine. The marinated morsels are then blanched in oil or water and thoroughly drained in a collander before bein stir-fried.

She says the blanching can be skipped, but the results won't be nearly as velvety. Aside of maybe rice vinegar, no flavorings are added to the marinade, and it adds no taste to the finished food, just covers and protects.

She also mentions two variations, one where a whole egg is in the marinade, with sometimes some rice wine, the other has no egg at all.

A detailed description follows, too long to quote, but if you have access to the book, it's on page 101.

She says it's usually something that's more often done in restaurants than at home, but I'm intrigued and will give it a shot on my new outdoor wok burner one of these days.