The Best Method for Tender Poached Chicken (+ Delish Wonton Soup!) (2024)

FAQs

The Best Method for Tender Poached Chicken (+ Delish Wonton Soup!)? ›

When poaching a chicken, to make the white meat meltingly tender, drop a washed and dried whole bird in boiling stock and cook, lowering the heat to maintain a simmer for 90 seconds, then turning off the heat. Cover and let it steep in the hot liquid. Ninety minutes later, it will be perfect.

Cold-poaching the chicken breasts, then removing them until the end of the cooking process, guarantees a perfectly tender and juicy texture. Using stock reinforces the flavor of the broth, creating a more deeply flavorful soup.

How to eat. You eat wonton soup from a bowl, with an earthenware soup spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Scoop the wontons from the soup with your chopsticks and eat the liquid with the spoon. Easy.

Don't Overcook

Yes, you can overcook chicken even when poaching it. It takes a while, but it can happen. Overcooked chicken is dry, shrinks in size, and becomes rubbery or chewy. This happens when chicken is cooked beyond an internal temperature of 165 F.

1) Marinate the chicken in water, wine, or other liquids for up to an hour before cooking. This will tenderize the meat and add flavor. 2) Slowly cook the chicken on low heat with a lid on top for about 15-20 minutes per pound of chicken. The lid prevents the chicken from drying out too much.

Whisk together egg white, vinegar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Add sliced chicken; mix to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

You may have wondered how Chinese restaurants come to have such soft, silky textured meat in their dishes? Rather than stir-frying the meat and searing it all over until browned, they use a special technique called velveting.

Making the broth with a combination of chicken backs, pork trotters, dry-cured ham, dried shrimp, and glutamate-rich seaweed results in an extra-savory and rich soup. Brining the shrimp that fill the wontons in a solution of salt and baking soda preserves their juiciness and makes them crisp.

Wrappers – do not lay/spread them out but keep them in the opened package. Take out a few wrappers at a time (so they don't dry out). Cover the opened package with a damp tea towel.

How do you keep wontons from falling apart in soup? ›

Good to know (FAQs)

To keep wontons from falling apart, minimise stirring whilst wontons are cooking in the pot of boiling water. Make sure there is plenty of water in the pot when cooking to prevent wontons from sticking to each other and thus falling apart.

Place chicken breast in water, place lid on, bring back up to the boil. IMMEDIATELY remove saucepan from stove and set aside for 20 minutes (it's fine up to 45 min to 1 hr, won't overcook). Remove chicken from water. Slice and be amazed how perfectly juicy and tender the breast is!!

Starting with cold water is key here: It allows the chicken to cook through more evenly than if you dumped them into boiling water.

How long does it take to poach chicken? It should take around 10-12 minutes to poach chicken breasts over a very low heat on the hob, or until the juices run clear when pierced in the thickest part. If the chicken breasts are very large, or your pan is on the small side, it could take a little longer.

Cook at a gentle simmer: Boil the chicken at a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil, to avoid overcooking and drying out the meat. Use a meat thermometer: Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. Once it reaches 165°F (74°C), remove it from the heat immediately to avoid overcooking.

Overcooking might play a role in your chicken's tire-like texture. Leaving chicken in a pan, oven, or grill for just a little too long can suck the moisture right out and leave you with a dry, rubbery bird. Without moisture, the protein fibers in the chicken become elastic.

To ensure tender chicken breasts in your soup, be careful not to overcook them. Overcooking can result in dry and tough meat. Once the chicken reaches the correct internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), remove it from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes, which will help the meat retain its juiciness.

Pounding helps tenderize the meat by breaking down its tough fibers. It also thins it out for more even cooking. Do this before frying, grilling, or roasting for better retention of moisture content. To tenderize chicken breast, place the meat on a durable, flat surface.