For velveting:

(per ~100g of meat, roughly)

1. ¼ tsp salt - This is used for basically the same reason you’d brine in Western cooking.

2. ½ tsp sugar - Flavor, mostly – to balance the salt.

3. ½ tsp cornstarch - Cornstarch’s really important here. The thin layer of starch does two things: first, it slows down the heat transfer – as the meat’s cooking, the starches are gelatinizing, absorbing some of the energy. Second, the gelatinized starch helps also makes a moisture-resistant barrier, trapping juices inside the meat.

4. ½ tsp Liaojiu, / Shaoxing wine - Ok, so I know that alcohol in marinades is a pretty contentious topic, but for this kind of marinade, it’s a must. My hypothesis is that the alcohol changes the texture of the cornstarch coating and promotes browning, but I’ve never tested it myself… Chinese sources say that it’s to remove the gaminess from the meat, so we’ll just go with that.

5. ¼ tsp soy sauce - To season the meat. You could either use light soy sauce or dark soy sauce, depending on the effect you’re after. Dark soy sauce gives the meat a deeper color. Sometimes you want that, sometimes you don’t.

6. ½-1 tsp oil - To coat the meat after mixing everything in. Helps form a barrier so that things don’t dry out when marinating.

How long to marinate: Generally, at least 15 minutes is enough. For dices/sheets you might want to aim closer to 30 minutes. For something like ribs you might want to do something like 45-60 minutes. I haven’t found an upper limit for marination times, but I’ve also never tested it either.

Tags: Asian, chicken, Chinese, dairy-free, egg-free, eggless, gluten-free, marinade, nut-free