By SARAH MOHAMED
Use Baking Soda For A Better Overall Stir-Fry
Even when you’ve mastered crispy vegetables and a tasty sauce, homemade stir-fries often fall short, with tougher, drier proteins compared to the tenderness of restaurant dishes.
Restaurants achieve tender stir-fry meat using the Chinese velveting method. Marinating the meat in baking soda before cooking mimics this method and enhances protein textures.
To marinate meat using baking soda, mix about a teaspoon per pound into thinly sliced meat. Leave for about 30-minutes, then rinse and dry the meat before stir-frying in a hot wok.
Chicken and fish require shorter marination times, as do finer, more thinly sliced proteins. Over-marinating with baking soda can lead to a mushy, unappetizing texture.
Baking soda creates an alkaline environment, elevating the pH level of the meat's surface. This prevents protein strands from tightening under high heat, resulting in tender meat.