chinese restaraunt chicken

clint_silver

Can anyone tell me whats the story with the chicken in chinese restaraunts.

If you ask for breast of chicken and you get that horrible boiled withered stuff with the texture of old rubber, is that really chicken breast thats been cooked in the kitchen or has that been delivered to them in a gallon drum of sorts?

If I get that stuff from a takeaway I make a mental note not to order from there again as its just not nice.

Heres the consumer issue. I was in my local chinese restaraunt last week, quite pricey for what it is, 22e I think or something like it for the mains, specifically asked for chicken fillet in a curry, yet that rubber stuff came out, asked waiter and he said it was chicken fillet and its the way the chef slices it. Im not having that.

anyone know the story?

Wife had the beef that night, again, 22 or 23e, and it was that rubbery beef you get in takeaways, waiter said it was the same beef you get in shanahans.

Paulw

Probably more to do with how it is cooked, rather than the raw ingredients.

Quick hot heat from the wok will cook it very differently from roasting in an oven, or frying in a pan.

dudara

It's really to do with how it's cooked, not the type of meat.

Moving to the Food & Drink forum, as I don't see this as a Consumer Issue

dudara

clint_silver

dudara wrote: »

It's really to do with how it's cooked, not the type of meat.

Moving to the Food & Drink forum, as I don't see this as a Consumer Issue

dudara

The consumer issue is I dont believe the quality of the meat is as it should be for a restartaunt charging the prices that this particualr restaraunt does. Now absolutely for sure, I aint going back there but thats not the point of this post.

Heres my complaint, I've heard anecdotal stories that the takeaways get bags of this stuff delivered in. Pre-cooked. Maybe they do, maybe they dont. Dont have a problem with it in a takeaway, but if you ask for chicken in a restaraunt thats charging over the odds, I dont believe thats what you should be served.

My question here is can anyone confirm the restaraunts do that?

fussyonion

I think it's the way it's cooked, OP.
I was in a Chinese restaurant a while back and my chicken was the same.
I find Indian restaurants cook chicken a different way..whenever I get a Indian curry, it's always moist and tender.

clint_silver

fussyonion wrote: »

I think it's the way it's cooked, OP.
I was in a Chinese restaurant a while back and my chicken was the same.
I find Indian restaurants cook chicken a different way..whenever I get a Indian curry, it's always moist and tender.

I know exactly what youre saying, yet, some chinese restaraunts serve chicken this way either whole breasts or diced.

I should ask for that way the next time, if they cant do that, that will tell me the answer as to whether they get it in that way or not. the texture is just not nice on the palate.

ah here, quick google, this is exactly what Im talking about.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-181626/The-plastic-chicken-thats-51-meat.html

ya know what, even if someone said the indian chicken is the same, I wouldnt even mind that, at least it has some juicy texture to it that make its taste like chicken, not cotton wool.

JimsAlterEgo

the same chicken is used for a whole breast as in stirfry but the sauce in the stirfry make it appear different.

clint_silver

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

the same chicken is used for a whole breast as in stirfry but the sauce in the stirfry make it appear different.

This was in a curry I got that rubber stuff.

rubadub

clint_silver wrote: »

specifically asked for chicken fillet in a curry, yet that rubber stuff came out, asked waiter and he said it was chicken fillet and its the way the chef slices it.

You are probably better off getting regular chicken curry. My local takeaway does a chicken curry and breast of chicken curry with the option of this being chopped. The chicken curry is great, its thigh meat and other meat besides breast. The breast is proper breast in that curry.

If you order a chicken kung po or many other dishes you get the processed rubber chicken, a few other dishes use seemingly proper breast, like the chilli & salt chicken.

You can see musgraves aisian section, it use to have more info
http://www.musgravemarketplace.ie/_uploads/documents/Flyers/R2_2014/J473_Asian_Flyer.pdf

414834 Steam Cooked Chicken 1 x 10kg €38.00
171957 Simply Meat Wok Steak Variable Weight €6.45
175432 Brazilian Salted Chicken 1 x 15kg €47.50
414624 70% Frozen Chicken Fillet 1 x 10kg €27.50
141088 IQF Squid Tubes U/5 10 x 1kg €28.00
Various Prawns P&D 26/30 6 x 900g - 1.3kg €68.00
791842 Red Dragon Long Grain Rice 1 x 20kg €14.39

so the cheapo 70% one is full of water and proteins to bulk it out. Tesco used to sell these as value frozen fillets. I have seen it ready chopped too, which is why the sizes can be very consistent in takeaways.

You get the same cheapo bulked out fillets in cheap "chicken fillet baguettes".

The Hill Billy

The texture of the chicken is due to the style of cooking. If you don't like it - best not to eat chinese food as it is a traditional cooking technique.

It is called Velveting.

rubadub

The Hill Billy wrote: »

The texture of the chicken is due to the style of cooking. If you don't like it - best not to eat chinese food as it is a traditional cooking technique.

But this results in

Velveting chicken in the egg white and cornstarch mixture prevents it from overcooking and becoming dry. As the name implies, it also gives the chicken a smooth, velvety texture.

I have gotten this decent velveted chicken in decent restaurants & takeaway many times its gorgeous, but many times I have unfortunately also got stuff as described as

clint_silver wrote: »

horrible boiled withered stuff with the texture of old rubber,

The fact musgraves have the 70% processed muck on their small list of Asian stuff should be a strong indication that its popular.

clint_silver

The Hill Billy wrote: »

The texture of the chicken is due to the style of cooking. If you don't like it - best not to eat chinese food as it is a traditional cooking technique.

It is called Velveting.

So if ordering from a chinese restaraunt that employs this velveting method of cooking, is there a specific way of asking for the other way where one will get a succulent diced breast rather than the chance of getting rubber?

Ive had many an arguement when ordering for the first time "can you make sure thats breast diced"... and still end up with the rubbery type.

fussyonion

The only surefire way of not getting velveted chicken is to ask for a whole breast and then just cut it into chunks yourself on the plate.

rubadub

fussyonion wrote: »

a whole breast and then just cut it into chunks yourself on the plate.

Its a better chance alright, but still could be the 70% chicken leathery stuff pumped up with soy protein, the tesco value ones looked like regular whole chicken breasts, it was not chopped, same as the processed ones in the €1.50 chicken fillet baguettes.

I still don't think his description (horrible boiled withered stuff with the texture of old rubber) is of velveted chicken, just crap processed chicken.

fussyonion

I know what you mean, rubadub.
I don't often order Chinese, but when I do, I go for whole breast of chicken curry and that tends to be OK.

I know it's hardly free-range or organic but at least it isn't rubbery or spongey and I think if you're ordering diced chicken, you're nearly guaranteed it's going to be leathery.

The Hill Billy

clint_silver wrote: »

So if ordering from a chinese restaraunt that employs this velveting method of cooking, is there a specific way of asking for the other way where one will get a succulent diced breast rather than the chance of getting rubber?

Ive had many an arguement when ordering for the first time "can you make sure thats breast diced"... and still end up with the rubbery type.

Most Chinese restaurants will velvet chicken. If you don't want crap velveted chicken - use a better Chinese restaurant.

the beer revolu

I think there is some confusion in this thread.
The process of velveting does not make for tough, crap chicken.
If you velvet quality chicken, it should be good.
If you velvet crap chicken, it will be crap and leathery.
Getting a whole breast of crap chicken will still be crap chicken.
As said, you need to use take aways that use decent ingredients if you want quality.

Mick Murdock

I think poor quality chicken boiled in water before adding it to the wok is the problem.

I tend to stick to beef.

anewme

I am now very fussy about chicken (from both an ethical point of view and quality point of view) so that means for me only chicken I cook myself where I can see the origin of the food. None of those Deli shop hot chicken fillet rolls, where the breaded fillets are in from Vietnam either. Also those "square" bits of chicken that you see in the Deli's or Subway or that sort of thing, yuk!

I had a different problem with the chicken in the Chinese, I used it find it kind of slimey and chewy, if that makes sense.

That put me off it, so I've ended up eating healthier as a result. No harm either!!!

RJohnG

clint_silver wrote: »

Can anyone tell me whats the story with the chicken in chinese restaraunts.

If you ask for breast of chicken and you get that horrible boiled withered stuff with the texture of old rubber, is that really chicken breast thats been cooked in the kitchen or has that been delivered to them in a gallon drum of sorts?

If I get that stuff from a takeaway I make a mental note not to order from there again as its just not nice.

Heres the consumer issue. I was in my local chinese restaraunt last week, quite pricey for what it is, 22e I think or something like it for the mains, specifically asked for chicken fillet in a curry, yet that rubber stuff came out, asked waiter and he said it was chicken fillet and its the way the chef slices it. Im not having that.

anyone know the story?

Wife had the beef that night, again, 22 or 23e, and it was that rubbery beef you get in takeaways, waiter said it was the same beef you get in shanahans.

Chicken shouldn't be 'rubbery' if they marinade and pre-boil it correctly. And if it's fresh sliced chicken it should be dipped in potato starch before being put in the wok. This creates a barrier against the heat and stops it overcooking.

If beef is rubbery they used too much baking soda in the marinade process.

No more than 1 Tsp per 1kg sliced beef.

Cheers.

Davidth88

Goodness me , the mention of Rubbery Chicken in a Chinese reminds me of the classic Tommy Cooper joke :-)


Anyway , I visited China quite a few times , and worked with a Chinese girl , she used to say that the Chinese considered the breast meat inferior and often didn't use it unless minced ! She reckoned you would struggle to find breast fillets in Chinese supermarkets. I would sort of agree because the thigh has a lot more flavour.

In China the chicken is totally inedible , speaking to a Western Chef out there he told me ( and I have no doubt it's true ) that basically they used frozen chicken and ran it through a bandsaw . I couldn't eat it because all you seemed to get was a mouthful of bones.