Stephencooks

Skinless boneless chicken breasts -- or thighs, if well-trimmed of fat -- always work very well for a healthy diet, whether you're looking to control your blood glucose level or just trying to stay trim. They're low fat, have zero carbs and are a good source of protein and so they frequently show up in diet regimens or recommendations.

The challenge with boneless breasts is, lets face it: how to make them interesting. Marinated, grilled and cut up to serve cold in a salad is a standard treatment. Or marinated, grilled and served hot, perhaps with a sauce of some sort, and next to, instead of on, the salad. But -- excuse me:yawn -- the meat can be dry and relatively tasteless. And in my experience the marinade or sauce in my view can rarely overcome this flaw.

Of course they can be breaded and sautéed, like a veal cutlet, and served with a mushroom sauce, but then it's not low carb, low fat food anymore.

Note: This recipe requires a Chinese style steamer rack, but if you don't have one you can still do it. Click here to see how.

The Chinese have a technique, however, called veleting which, with a little planning and a few simple ingredients, turns bland, dry chicken breast meat into a tender, juicy treat with a nice slippery feel in the mouth. I've learned this technique from years of cooking from Irene Kuo's excellent The Key to Chinese Cooking. (There are similar procedures for pork and fish which I'll present in future posts.)

To velvet chicken, it's sliced very thinly and then marinated in a mixture of cornstarch, egg white, salt and a little dry sherry or Chinese cooking wine. It's then plunged in boiling water for about a minute and drained. From that point the chicken needs only the quickest of stirfrying to be ready for the table.

In this recipe, adapted from Irene Kuo, the chicken after marinating is covered with a sauce and steamed gently. The result is a satisfyingly interesting blend of flavors and textures that is certainly a long way from the standard bland broiled chicken breast.