WW: Velvet Orange Scallops | A Birthday Celebration

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

I made this stir-fry for Andy's birthday dinner, a few days before the new recipe schedule was up. Much to my surprise it was picked for our second recipe in January. This puts me ahead of the game - and that is always a good thing.

Scallops. I can take 'em or leave 'em - Andy, he loves scallops.

This is the first time I used the velveting technique (marinating the scallops in a mixture of egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, and salt, then a quick poaching in oil laced water) for seafood. I have only used it for chicken recipes. At first I was not sure if it would make much of a difference, being scallops are so succulent on their own, but after one taste, I found they were even more tender than the ones I have made in the past.

Andy liked the scallops, but not the orange flavor from the zest, which seemed to be most concentrated in the carrots - those were left on his plate (my orange was really large, maybe I should have used less zest - I love citrus - more the merrier I thought). Me, I loved the carrots - I finished off his share. Our daughter seemed to enjoy this as well, for her plate was clean.

 

 Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Oil

Bowl 2: Garlic, ginger

Bowl 3: Carrots

Bowl 4: Scallops marinating in egg white, cornstarch, dry sherry, salt

Bowl 5: Broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, orange zest, red pepper flakes, dry sherry

Bowl 6: Salt (Oops! the salt should be #4 - added after the carrots.)

Bowl 7: Scallions

Since this was a birthday celebration, I just took a quick picture - nothing fancy. Didn't want to keep the birthday boy waiting!

While I was wokking away, our lovely daughter made the cinnamon rolls (another favorite of Andy's) for our next day's breakfast.

The cinnamon rolls had an overnight stay in the refrigerator - this makes for quick bakery goodness in the morning.

(source)

No picture of the finished cinnamon rolls - completely forgot - our minds were on getting to the airport on time. I can attest that they were delicious! It is an Emily Luchetti recipe after all.

We are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 157 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

 

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!

WW: Velvet Chicken and Asparagus

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

This recipe takes a little bit of advance planning before you can start the actual stir-frying; the asparagus needs to be blanched and the chicken marinated (not for adding flavor, but to create tenderness) thirty minutes prior to cooking - a process called velveting.

If like me, you fail to read the recipe beforehand, you can still get this on the table in a reasonable amount of time - oh the joys of stir-frying!

Chicken breast can and usually turn out dry, no matter how you cook it - until now. To velvet chicken (or other meats/fish) you combine it with some egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, salt and oil. Chill for thirty minutes then give it a quick blanching in some water that oil has been added to. The result after stir-frying is amazing; tender, soft and silky smooth.

I only wish I could use this technique with chicken that I plan on barbecuing. It is not advised to "brown" the meat you have velveted - I'm not real clear as to why not. It has something to do with overcooking the velveting ingredients themselves.

Once again, we have another successful recipe from the book Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge (a must have!).

Success meter (1-3): 3

 The chicken in the "marinade".

Asparagus is blanched and dried. With stir-frying you want to make sure your ingredients are dry as possible to avoid hot oil splatters and the braising of your dish. I find using a salad spinner works well at getting the water off of the vegetables.

 You can almost see the silky smoothness the chicken has obtained after marinating.

Trust me - you'll get past the eating of "white" (not browned) chicken with the first bite. The velveted chicken is sublime.

A career in food styling is not in my future...

One of the rules of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 128 in Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like to join us or just want more information, click here or visit us on Facebook.