Very dry chicken

corblimey

I've been getting into stir fries recently, but my chicken is coming out very dry. I chop the chicken into cubes and fry it on medium high heat in a wok for 2-3 mins, then add the veg, the sauce and the noodles, adding another 2-3 mins in cooking time. The resulting chicken is very very dry. Am I overcooking it - everything else appears to be done okay (although I've never had noodles before, so have nothing to compare them to). Would overcooking resulting in dryness, or is it something else. I use no oil.

Alun

Sorry, but how on earth can you fry something using no oil? If you're not using any oil at all, then I can imagine the chicken would be dry ... you'd be just evaporating any juices in the chicken instead of sealing them in.

You don't need to use much oil, only a splash, and personally I use Sharwoods Wok Oil which is infused with ginger, garlic, and a hint of chilli.

corblimey

Ah. I haven't been making them that long (I'm more of a steak and chips man) but I was told at the start that I didn't need to use oil in a wok?

NewFrockTuesday

try tossing the chichen in cornflour first and then wok it at a really high heat. take it out of the wok and do off the veg at the same high heat and then add the chicken in again.
make sure that the veg is cut to a suitable size for stir frying because if its too big it will take too long to cook and the chicken will be overcooked.
also try stripping the chicken instead of cubing it.

corblimey

purdee wrote:

also try stripping the chicken instead of cubing it.

Hmmm, interesting. What sort of length/width for these strips? I assume the length of a standard boneless chicken breast and about the width of a finger?

Alun

corblimey wrote:

Ah. I haven't been making them that long (I'm more of a steak and chips man) but I was told at the start that I didn't need to use oil in a wok?

Then you were told wrong What kind of wok is it, BTW? I'm guessing it's probably a non-stick one in which case you can, should you so desire, get away with using the very smallest amount of oil, but you will need some.

If, on the other hand, it's a proper steel wok, then you'll need to season it first ... let us know, and we'll tell you how to do it if this is the case.

GuanYin

Your first mistake is having a medium heat wok.
The idea of a wok is to cook very fast sealing in juices and flavour.

The Wok should be very hot. Use oil. I would recommend groundnut oil or perhaps sunflower (although you can get "wok oil"). You want high temp oils, so olive oil is NOT suitable.

Secondly, cut your chicken raw and then stir fry the pieces. The reason your chicken is dry is that you are taking it off the heat and then re-adding it (although the lack of oil and cooking temp also compund this error).

If you really want tender succulent chicken, steam it whole first and then chop and add it in after the veg but before the sauce.

corblimey

Alun wrote:

Then you were told wrong What kind of wok is it, BTW? I'm guessing it's probably a non-stick one in which case you can, should you so desire, get away with using the very smallest amount of oil, but you will need some.

Yeah, Alun, it's a standard non-stick wok, bought on the cheap from Tesco. I'd even go as far to say that it's just a big deep frying pan I like stir fries but not enough just yet to go to a lot of trouble and/or expense for them.

psi wrote:

Your first mistake is having a medium heat wok.
The idea of a wok is to cook very fast sealing in juices and flavour.

The Wok should be very hot. Use oil. I would recommend groundnut oil or perhaps sunflower (although you can get "wok oil"). You want high temp oils, so olive oil is NOT suitable.

Have no idea what sort of oil I'm using. I reckon it's standard sunflower oil, I'd be surprised if I picked anything else up, tbh. It works fine for me steaks

Secondly, cut your chicken raw and then stir fry the pieces. The reason your chicken is dry is that you are taking it off the heat and then re-adding it (although the lack of oil and cooking temp also compund this error).

Er, not to appear as a complete fool, but I'm not re-adding the chicken at any point. I cook it for a few mins, I add the veg, I add the sauce, I add the noodles, I serve.

Good tip on the heat, though. I'm doing one tonight, so I'll add a little oil and wait til the bugger is extra hot.

GuanYin

corblimey wrote:

Er, not to appear as a complete fool, but I'm not re-adding the chicken at any point. I cook it for a few mins, I add the veg, I add the sauce, I add the noodles, I serve.

Er, my bad, I mis-read or more likely my brain just gave up on me for a few mins (long day).

The key to good wok cooking is temperature.

So a high heat and a good oil will make it all good.

S

corblimey

psi wrote:

So a high heat and a good oil will make it all good.

Okay, a little oil, a longer waiting time than usual (the pan was searing) then a much shorter cooking time. Pretty good. Still not as good as the professionals, but I'm getting there, even shorter cooking time next time: I'll keep shortening it until i get salmonella

Blub2k4

Do you have a gas cooker? If you do a proper wok costs 13 euros from the Oriental Emporium on Jervis Street beside the Luas stop. It is well worth it and should do you a lifetime.