Velveting

From the Lexicon, Velveting & Marinades

VELVETING is the Chinese restaurant's tenderness secret: sliced meat coated in egg white, cornstarch, and a little baking soda or wine, rested, then pre-cooked briefly in oil or water; the alkaline soda relaxes surface proteins and the starch jackets in moisture, producing that signature silk in stir-fries. MARINADES, honestly assessed: salt, sugar, and acid work only millimeters deep (oil carries aromatics to the surface); enzyme marinades (pineapple, papaya, yogurt's gentler lactic action) genuinely tenderize but turn meat mushy past their window. Marinades are surface seasoning plus browning chemistry: the flavor is real; the 'penetration' is mostly myth, and the dry brine outperforms for depth.