by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: May 03, 2009

It is often the case that the reason why we wish to marinate any type of meat is in order to make it more tender. This is unlikely to be the reason why we would wish to learn how to marinate chciken breasts but there is a process used in Chinese cooking called, "Velveting," which is closely related to this practise.

Velveting chicken prior to stir frying it Chinese style serves both to help to protect the delicate flesh of the chicken during the incredibly intense heat of the cooking process and to make it more succulent during the subsequent eating process. It involves mixing the white of an egg with one teaspoon of cornflour and a generous pinch of salt. We then chop up a couple of raw chicken breast fillets in to bite sized pieces and stir them carefully through the mixture. The dish should then be covered and refrigerated for twenty to thirty minutes - no more. The chicken should be drained well prior to being stir fried.

We can also marinate chicken in the more conventional sense in either a wet or a dry marinade. I like chicken marinated in red wine, honey and orange juice, prior to being gently grilled or fried. We simply place the chicken breasts in a deep dish, pour on enough red wine and orange juice in equal quantities to cover them and add a tablespoon of honey. Stir well but carefully, cover and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.

In order to dry marinate chicken breasts, we first of all select our ground spices or combination of ground spices and then mix them all together. Try using simply Chinese Five Spice as a delicious option where all the spices are pre-mixed on your behalf. We should then drag the chicken breasts through the powder, ensuring they are fully and evenly coated. At this stage, I like to rub the powder in to the chicken breasts before putting them in a bowl, covering and refrigerating, again for a couple of hours. Try cooking them afterwards simply by wrapping them as they are loosely in aluminium foil and cooking for twenty-five to thirty minutes in the oven at 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6.

We therefore have three principal ways in which we can marinate chicken breasts, each one providing an altogether different eating experience from our incredibly versatile principal ingredient.

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