<p>I am a passable cook, and love to stir-fry. BUT, I have never gotten the hang of battering chicken or fish. For Sweet and Sour recipes, for Chicken Picata, or similar dishes, I have never had success. The battering always comes out gooey, or doesn’t stick to the meat, and glops. Batter fried vegetable are even worse; I’d love to be able to make battered mushrooms or onion rings, but haven’t figured out how to get the batter to stick. Any advice??</p>
<p>Are you trying to batter then stir fry? Battering really only works well for deep fry. The oil must be plentiful and hot. Also dredge the veggies or meat in flour before dipping into batter.
Also–most chicken piccata recipes call for a simple dredging in flour and then browning. (not battered and deep fried)</p>
<p>take a look at this:</p>
<p><a href=“Welcome”>www.blackhatchefs.com/proper-deep-fat-frying-and-pan-frying-techniques.html</a></p>
<p>Agree. Batter works best for deep frying and the oil must be hot. Get a candy/cooking thermometer so that you can actually keep track of your oil temp. And don’t crowd the oil with too much food. I look to get the oil somewhere between 350 and 400 when I add the food. But, above 400 is very dangerous. Get the pot off the burner… Flour coating, then batter.</p>
<p>For most pan-frying, I just do a dry coating. Flour. Or cornmeal, or various combinations. It’s trial and error on heat settings, time, etc. For coated pan-fried fish or pork chops – anything that tends to stick on the second side, I’ve started using a non-stick skillet. That seems to work pretty well. I still use a Lodge cast iron skillet for fried chicken - which doesn’t have big broad flat surfaces to stick.</p>
<p>Frying, of all kinds, is one area of cooking where experience counts. It took me a couple of years to master fried chicken.</p>
<p>BTW, the best batter for something like Sweet and Sour or General Tsao’s chicken is a cornstarch/egg batter. Much lighter/lacier than a flour-based batter.</p>
<p>I agree. Batter requires deep frying, and for Chinese dishes an egg white and cornstarch batter should be used.</p>
<p>Hot oil is the secret - preferably a fair amount. Which is why I never do it. I think you can often get by though with a fairly sticky liquid like buttermilk and then using panko crumbs. That’s how I do fried green tomatoes and I don’t do it in deep oil.</p>
<p>Make sure your chicken or veggies are DRY before dipping them in egg and coating. Dry with paper towel. Otherwise the coating won’t stick. Look for best way to coat in Cook’s Illustrated or America’s Test Kitchen. I know it doesn’t make sense to get rid of water and then dip in another liquid but it works. Been there, done that.
If you use just flour or panko crumbs with no egg, it’s especially important to make sure you have dry ingredients to start.</p>
<p>I second that making sure the ingredient (meat, veggies) DRY is important. Pat them really dry. I’m still trying to master perfect chilli relenos to get the batter to ‘stick.’</p>
<p>“Real” chile rellenos use a stiffly whipped egg whites with thoroughly beaten egg yolk folded into the whites right before you dip the chiles as batter. No flour at all. </p>
<p>Make sure you pat the outside of the chiles dry with a paper towel before dipping.</p>
<p>My problem is I tend to overcook the rellenos so the chiles burst and the luscious gooey cheese leaks out.</p>
<p>re getting the surface dry: That’s why you first dredge the veggies or meat in flour. It acts as a sort of desiccant.</p>
<p>Wayoutwest, yes, that is the batter I make, but i do have a problem with it “slipping” off the blistered pepper sometime. I’m still convinced it’s that the peppers aren’t “dry” enough but it’s fun to keep plugging away. I’ll master it one of these days…it’s one of my H’s and my favorite meals.</p>
<p>You guys/gals are awesome!! This is what is great about CC - good, experienced advice about all sorts of things. Thanks!</p>
<p>musica–but if the surface isn’t dry to begin with, it just becomes a gooey sticky flour mess.</p>
<p>yes of course, you dry the surface, sprinkle or dredge with flour and shake off the excess. There should be barely enough flour to even see. I should have not used the word “first”. I was mistakenly assuming that everyone knows to dry the vegetables or meat first. :(</p>
<p>You might want to get, or check out from the library, this cookbook:</p>
<p>[The</a> New Best Recipe: Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, John Burgoyne, Carl Tremblay: 9780936184746: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Best-Recipe-Cooks-Illustrated-Magazine/dp/0936184744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357755026&sr=8-1&keywords=best+recipe]The”>http://www.amazon.com/Best-Recipe-Cooks-Illustrated-Magazine/dp/0936184744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357755026&sr=8-1&keywords=best+recipe)</p>
<p>It has a detailed analysis of how to get batter to stick.</p>
<p>Cooks Illustrated is a great source^
I give my D their magazine subscription every year</p>
<p>Even better (for technique) is [The</a> Science of Good Cooking (Cook’s Illustrated Cookbooks): The Editors of America’s Test Kitchen and Guy Crosby Ph.D: 9781933615981: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y]The”>http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y)</p>
<p>I batter things, but oven fry, not deep fry. Dry the meat/veg then dip in flour (shake off extra), then dip in egg, last is bread crumbs or seasoned flour, depending. Works great.</p>
<p>D gave DH the Science of Good Cooking for Christmas, he loves it. Loves America’s Test Kitchen, Cooks Illustrated, etc…</p>
<p>I make a thin batter from flour and soda water for stuffed zucchini blossoms that works very well - light and crispy and doesn’t slip off. Used it for veggies too with great results. Agree that if you don’t dip in flour first, the food must be very dry before it goes into the batter. I always fry at 350 to 375 using a large deep electric skillet.</p>
<p>Do you grow your own zucchini blossoms Gourmetmom (it fits)? I have never seen them sold. I love them when I went to Rome.</p>
<p>Restaurants use a cheat: Wondra. Super fine, makes a great layer. Comes in a blue canister from Gold Medal and is really useful for sauces as well. Top fish restaurants use it as a matter of course because it takes to butter or oil in a pan so well. (This includes Le Bernardin.) You can easily expand Wondra into a somewhat bigger batter with the standard 3 steps: Wondra, drop in beaten egg, roll in something. I like Panko, particularly for pan cooked fish or oven-roasted stuff. </p>
<p>A Chinese cooking trick is to velvet the meat. That is what gives those stir fries the somewhat glistening, not just meat look and mouthfeel. It just means to coat in corn starch - meaning of course corn starch mixed in water. You develop a sense of how thick you like it. You can leave the meat in the corn starch to sit for a while. And you can make a thicker coat by dredging in flour or bread crumbs. </p>
<p>A similar trick is used by Cooks Magazine. They make a corn starch “slurry” and put it on fish. It’s also a good thing to put on meat. The “slurry” is corn starch, water and salt. So it’s like a brine that sticks. With fish, it seems to protect the fish a little bit from over-cooking. </p>
<p>Put it together and if you take basic velveting and add some salt - like soy sauce - to make a slurry, you start to get stuff that really seems like Chinese restaurant food.</p>
<p>When you deep fry, what do you use for the coating? I’ve found that a mixture of white flour and corn flour works very well, and I like the subtle taste that corn flour provides. I have also used a white flour/chick pea flour mixture.</p>
<p>You may want to add a bit of club soda or seltzer to your batter. I think it adds lightness and crunch.</p>