The other day I tried to recreate one of my favorite soups from a local restaurant, sizzling rice soup. I absolutely nailed the general flavor with broth, chives, baby shrimp, mushrooms, water chestnut, bamboo shoots, chicken and most importantly: fried\burnt rice. I read something about marinading the chicken with baking soda, so I gave it a shot. Apparently I used WAY too much, lol. The first few bites were awesome but then the soda started leaving a nasty after taste (ever brushed your teeth with baking soda toothpaste?) I rinsed the chicken off pretty well after the short marinade but it must have soaked it up. The soda certainly changed the texture but not in the way I had hoped. I want to make it again soon, so how do I cook the chicken? Little corn starch and fry it briefly before adding to the soup?

 

msg ftw

 

You probably just left your chicken under the heat for too long. Maybe you could try heating your pan/wok/whatever it is you're using up a bit with some oil, before you add the chicken. If you get the pan really hot, you might be able to sear the chicken a bit faster than if you'd just let it sit in the pan while it gets hot... it should get the outside a bit crispier but it won't dry out the inside of the meat so much, and with a shorter amount of time (versus letting it sit in the pan) it will be safe to eat but should still be nice and tender. I could be telling you the complete opposite of what you're supposed to be doing!*

*I am not a chef and you should not consume undercooked food. That's what I have to say right

 

Wok your chicken first.

 

generally soaking it in baking sda and water, but not so much a need in chicken recipes??? works wonders on calamari and some tougher meats.
msg will make shit taste like strawberry short cake if you want it to but its not all that great if you have an allergy. just "tenderize" your chicken with a meat tenderizer slice it thin and don't over-cook the hell out of it and you should be fine. if you decid to soak it again add some flavorful stuff as well i.e. aromatics like shallots and garlic will help overtake the grimey soda.

 

Cornstarch the chicken

 

 

Chicken will tend to be a lot more tender the faster you cook, the more hot the instrument used to cook leads to a faster cook time. Usually for a Chinese dish involving chicken, the cooks will normally tenderize the meat first before cooking. A nice iron wok will do good and it needs to be SUPER hot before putting in the chicken, drop a small amount of oil on the wok to make sure it's sizzling (similar to anything else, think of pre-heating an oven, serves the same purpose). Getting the chicken cooked fast and then onto a plate fast will lead to that super soft chicken generally, otherwise it'll come out like rubber if you cook it too long and let it sit.

Cornstarch is key for the coating when making an oriental dish like General Tso's or even Dak Kang Jung (닭강정). Not so much for chicken Karaage or much Japanese inspired items.

 

Cut the chicken against the grain is the most important. The breast has the most collagen, so often when you are eating chinese food you think you are getting white breast meat when it can often be chicken thigh. Thigh tastes similar to the breast but also has far less connective tissue and is more tender. CHicken thighs are cheaper, but a pain to cut all the skin and bone out to get nice chunks of meat, but you will get a fairly tasty tender hunk when breast can be quite tough.

If you are using chicken breast from the bags of boneless skinless chicken breast you buy at the grocery store, you will often get ones that are huge and other bags are labeled "Young Chicken" and the breasts are much smaller. Those are more expensive but also more tender.

 

Thats probably dog your comparing your chicken against