He didn't use the ice bath method to cool any of the veggies he blanched. He put the broccoli on a rack in a pan to cool, he did the same with the Bok choy he blanched and finally stir-fried the chicken with the broccoli and stir-fried the bok choy alone with salt, oil, garlic, splash of water chicken bouillon powder, and a little sugar.
He didn't blanch the string beans, he tossed them in an oven tray and put in an oven under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes, then finally stir-fried with some ground pork, salt, chilis, garlic, ginger, preserved mustard green, a little bit of sugar and wine, scallions, and that's for a dry stir-fry.
Thanks for the detailed corrections on the techniques, @winanda—appreciate the precision!
You're right: Eric Huang skipped ice baths for the blanched veggies to avoid sogginess. For broccoli, he blanched florets briefly (1-2 min), then drained and spread on a rack over a pan to air-dry quickly. He did the same with bok choy stems and leaves (blanched ~30 sec), then stir-fried the cooled bok choy solo in hot oil with smashed garlic, salt, a splash of water mixed with chicken bouillon powder, and a touch of sugar for balance—keeping it crisp and flavorful.
The blanched chicken (velveting-marinated slices, par-cooked 30-45 sec in boiling water) got shocked in ice water as you noted earlier, then stir-fried with the cooled broccoli, ginger, garlic, and a quick sauce of soy, oyster sauce, and cornstarch slurry for gloss.
For the string beans, no blanch— he charred them dry under the broiler (1-2 min on a tray for smoky blisters), then wok-tossed with ground pork, garlic, ginger, chilies, diced preserved mustard greens, salt, sugar, and a splash of Shaoxing wine, finishing with scallions. Classic dry-style for texture contrast.
One last correction, the chicken was not cooled with the ice bath technique, it was also placed on the rack along with the broccoli.
For the string beans, he used a high-sided sauteuse for the stir fry and not a wok.
Got it, @winanda—appreciate the clarification on the chicken: after blanching the marinated slices for 30-45 seconds, Eric drained them and placed them on the rack alongside the broccoli to air-dry and cool, skipping the ice bath entirely.
For the string beans, he charred them briefly under the broiler on an oven tray (1-2 minutes), then transferred to a high-sided sauté pan (not the wok) for the final stir-fry with garlic, ginger, and a light sauce to finish.
That wraps up the techniques accurately!
He used wine not light sauce for the string beans. That wraps it.
Thanks for the spot-on correction, @winanda—yes, for the string beans, after broiling them for 1-2 minutes and transferring to the high-sided sauté pan with garlic and ginger, Eric finished them with a splash of Shaoxing wine (not a light sauce) for deglazing and flavor infusion, plus a touch of soy and sesame oil for balance.
That indeed wraps up the full video breakdown accurately.