Yeah, previously I translated ‘velveting’ as 上浆, but I think it’s hard to square with a lot of the techniques that’re advertised under the name.
Another possibility that we could maybe translate 腌制 as velvet and 码味 as marinate, but that has its own awkwardness. And one of the most commonly discussed techniques is what SeriousEats refers to as “water-velveting”, which implies that there is an “oil velveting” (i.e. passing through oil).
Great read, appreciate the perspective. Personally, I prefer the pass-through-water technique most of the time simply because it keeps the smoke and grease spray down, which is a huge problem in my tiny, poorly vented kitchen. Stir-frying always overwhelms my shitty fans, so boiling first, rather than pre-frying, helps mitigate that somewhat.
I watch Chinese and Japanese food vids and saw a Chinese restaurant doing the passing through water in a wok before preparing the rest of the dish. So it must be a thing and authentic. I tried it because I used to try it with stir fry and it would stick to the pan. But I did it with chicken for chicken and broccoli and was like a restaurant.
It seems like what English internet calls velveting is just 嫩化+上浆. Typically the washing and 过油 steps are mentioned only in passing if at all.
Yeah, previously I translated ‘velveting’ as 上浆, but I think it’s hard to square with a lot of the techniques that’re advertised under the name.
Another possibility that we could maybe translate 腌制 as velvet and 码味 as marinate, but that has its own awkwardness. And one of the most commonly discussed techniques is what SeriousEats refers to as “water-velveting”, which implies that there is an “oil velveting” (i.e. passing through oil).
Great read, appreciate the perspective. Personally, I prefer the pass-through-water technique most of the time simply because it keeps the smoke and grease spray down, which is a huge problem in my tiny, poorly vented kitchen. Stir-frying always overwhelms my shitty fans, so boiling first, rather than pre-frying, helps mitigate that somewhat.
I watch Chinese and Japanese food vids and saw a Chinese restaurant doing the passing through water in a wok before preparing the rest of the dish. So it must be a thing and authentic. I tried it because I used to try it with stir fry and it would stick to the pan. But I did it with chicken for chicken and broccoli and was like a restaurant.