Okay, can you give an elaboration on what exactly he stir-fried and any other food he cooked in the video?
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
Okay, can you give an elaboration on what exactly he stir-fried and any other food he cooked in the video?
In the video, Eric Huang stir-fries beef with bell peppers and onions as the main demonstration dish, using velveting on the beef (marinated in cornstarch, egg white, and seasonings) and cooking in small batches over high heat for crispy edges and tenderness.
He also shows a quick vegetable stir-fry with broccoli and snap peas to illustrate batch cooking and sauce integration. No other full recipes are cooked—just these to highlight techniques.
You didn't explain all. He also used some chicken which he blanched, so, how did he finally use the blanched chicken? Also, he used green string beans at some point and stir-fried it with something else. Can you look deep and explain all that?
In the video, Eric Huang demonstrates blanching thin-sliced chicken breast for a separate technique segment: He marinated it in a velveting slurry (cornstarch, egg white, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and oil), then briefly blanched it in boiling water for 30-45 seconds to partially cook and tenderize it without over-firming the texture. After blanching and draining, he shocked it in ice water to stop cooking, then stir-fried it at the end with garlic, ginger, and a simple sauce (oyster sauce, chicken stock, cornstarch slurry) for a glossy, restaurant-style chicken stir-fry—finished in under 2 minutes to keep it juicy.
For the green string beans, he prepped and blanched them too (boil 1-2 minutes until bright green, then ice bath), before stir-frying them in batches with pork slices (also velveted), dried chilies, and garlic over high heat. The blanching preserved their crispness, and he added fermented black beans and sauce last for umami depth. These show how blanching integrates into full dishes for better home results.
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!