Chinese food

[MHBT]

How do Chinese restaurants have such tender chicken? Wtf

 

[NTBeer]

Velveting. There's several methods - for me, the easiest is to coat the sliced chicken in a tsp of baking soda for about 20 minutes, then rinse it off.

 

[Bobby_M]

What specific dish are you thinking of?

 

[SanPancho]

Velveting. There's several methods - for me, the easiest is to coat the sliced chicken in a tsp of baking soda for about 20 minutes, then rinse it off.

^this. Raises the pH, which accelerates browning. So you get nice Maillard reaction carmelization happening before it dries out the chicken.

chinese cuisine is also more likely to use all the chicken, i.e. dark meat, vs Americans typically wanting “healthier” but plain ass breast Meat

 

[earachemyeye69]

Lol, my wife comes from a small community outside of Yingde Guangdong and their chicken is like trying to chew on an inner tube.

 

[SanPancho]

Lol, my wife comes from a small community outside of Yingde Guangdong and their chicken is like trying to chew on an inner tube.

Ha. Yes, “free range” means something very different in most of the world.

 

[wepeeler]

Cuz. It. Ain't. Chicken...

 

[passedpawn]

Man, I've searched high and low for chinese food in china, they just don't have it Fried rice - forgettaboutit.

In Hefei, I had loaded intestine rise to the top of our community pot of hot pot. Yech.

The worst meat was in france. Beef was almost inedible. How they can screw that up so repeatably, I don't know.

 

[davidabcd]

US Chinese restaurants may do all sorts of things and it would be interesting to learn more about it.
My experience with white meat is that frying small pieces and cooking them only until they float is pretty much foolproof. The chicken comes out really tender and juicy. The same goes for a chicken breast that you grill but it must be pretty thin to begin with. It's all about cooking it only until it's done.
I like dark meat a lot more though and it's nice that it's cheaper.

 

[passedpawn]

Yea thighs are very forgiving. I always use them in stir fry

 

[DBhomebrew]

OP is living in a unique area of the world in which perfectly tender and delicious Chinese food is taken for granted. Trust me*, @MattyHBT, not all Chinese food is as tasty as you're used to.

*Born and raised on LI. Lived there until 17 ('98). Been living all over the country and searching for good Chinese, pizza, and bagels ever since.

 

[davidabcd]

Good pizza is definitely not a given everywhere in the US. Michigan is crazy competitive so we have more than a few good options.
I was under the impression, sort of mentioned already, that our Chinese (and Mexican) foods aren't but a shadow of the actual style in most cases.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I was under the impression, sort of mentioned already, that our Chinese (and Mexican) foods aren't but a shadow of the actual style in most cases.

Most definitely. Italian/pizza, too. Just about anything imported has been Americanized. See recent thread re: IPA.

 

[davidabcd]

Most definitely. Italian/pizza, too. Just about anything imported has been Americanized. See recent thread re: IPA.

I'm assuming Long Island has as good of pizza as NYC? Some chefs have migrated here from that way to Detroit. It's lucky to have them around.
I was able to have authentic pizza there many times over a three month period.
One style I don't have any sound reference for is Chicago style. It looks good though.
I thought the Neapolitan was an accurate representation though.

 

[MHBT]

OP is living in a unique area of the world in which perfectly tender and delicious Chinese food is taken for granted. Trust me*, @MattyHBT, not all Chinese food is as tasty as you're used to.

*Born and raised on LI. Lived there until 17 ('98). Been living all over the country and searching for good Chinese, pizza, and bagels ever since.

Not taking for granted, just curious how they make it so tender, im also pretty close to bell and evans which produce very good chicken but not tender like Chinese restaurant and as someone mentioned its “ velveting” technique and now it all makes sense

 

[MHBT]

We

I'm assuming Long Island has as good of pizza as NYC? Some chefs have migrated here from that way to Detroit. It's lucky to have them around.
I was able to have authentic pizza there many times over a three month period.
One style I don't have any sound reference for is Chicago style. It looks good though.
I thought the Neapolitan was an accurate representation though.

Best pizza close to me is brooklyn and i been to italy and i prefer brooklyn pizza

 

[davidabcd]

Best pizza close to me is brooklyn and i been to italy and i prefer brooklyn pizza

Any particular place?
We have Supino's which might as well be from NY. Detroit is known for deep dish, Buddy's, specifically.
I really like the Neapolitan but not as much as the NY or Detroit styles.

 

[MHBT]

Any particular place?
We have Supino's which might as well be from NY. Detroit is known for deep dish, Buddy's, specifically.
I really like the Neapolitan but not as much as the NY or Detroit styles.

Franks on flatbush ave is good, di faras is great, new park pizza, so many pizzarias in BK and for the most part cant go wrong

 

[MHBT]

Any particular place?
We have Supino's which might as well be from NY. Detroit is known for deep dish, Buddy's, specifically.
I really like the Neapolitan but not as much as the NY or Detroit styles.

I hear ya , real Italian Napoli style pizza is great but its soupy and chewy compared with to NY pizza, and i never had pizza outside of NY in chigaco or other states famed for their pizza

 

[davidabcd]

Franks on flatbush ave is good, di faras is great, new park pizza, so many pizzarias in BK and for the most part cant go wrong

Thanks.
Niece lived in Brooklyn. I'll ask her if she's tried any of them.

 

[MHBT]

Thanks.
Niece lived in Brooklyn. I'll ask her if she's tried any of them.

Im sure she has, fun fact about new park is it was a regular for john gotti and his wise guys

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'm assuming Long Island has as good of pizza as NYC?

It's not just NYC that has excellent NY-style pizza. It's the metro-NY area and that's getting larger every day. I grew up in Nassau County, parents moved "out there" (50min to Penn Station via LIRR) from Brooklyn and Manhattan. In the late 90s, three out of the five pizza shops within walking distance of my house we're owned and operated by first gen LI families whose Ma & Pa moved out from the five boroughs.

So...NYC, LI, N Jersey, SW Conn. Also, most importantly, I've had crappy pizza in NYC.

 

[MHBT]

It's not just NYC that has excellent NY-style pizza. It's the metro-NY area and that's getting larger every day. I grew up in Nassau County, parents moved "out there" (50min to Penn Station via LIRR) from Brooklyn and Manhattan. In the late 90s, three out of the five pizza shops within walking distance of my house we're owned and operated by first gen LI families whose Ma & Pa moved out from the five boroughs.

So...NYC, LI, N Jersey, SW Conn. Also, most importantly, I've had crappy pizza in NYC.

Im born and raised in nassau county long beach

 

[DBhomebrew]

Im born and raised in nassau county long beach

Massapequa

 

[davidabcd]

It's not just NYC that has excellent NY-style pizza.

I contemplated not grouping it as "NYC only" since I knew it wasn't; though it was the only place I stayed.

Authentic NY pizza.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Authentic NY  mall pizza.

Fixed it

 

[davidabcd]

Fixed it

It is Michael Scott from The Office after all.

 

[MHBT]

Fixed it

Everyone likes sbarro man

 

[davidabcd]

I've never had it, thought it might be inferior like some of our chains.

 

[MHBT]

I've never had it, thought it might be inferior like some of our chains.

It is a chain, its like he said mall/ airport pizza