Butter-Soy Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry

By Kevin Pang

Updated Jan. 5, 2025

Butter-Soy Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim.
Total Time
50 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes (including 30 minutes' marinating)
Rating
5(1,659)
Comments
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How do Chinese restaurant stir-fries deliver silky and tender meat with a sauce that seems to cling? The secret is a technique called velveting. When meat is velveted (a two-step process of marinating in a cornstarch mixture and blanching in either oil or water), even lean cuts like chicken breast become supremely juicy. Here, velveting does the heavy lifting in this lightning-quick stir-fry, featuring a sublimely savory sauce of butter, soy sauce and lemon. To speed things along further, you can prep the vegetables while the chicken marinates.

Featured in: The Simple Trick to Silky, Juicy Chicken Breast

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Ingredients

Yield:2 to 4 servings

    For the Chicken

    • 1boneless, skinless chicken breast (10 to 12 ounces), or 2 smaller chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each), thinly sliced
    • 1½teaspoons cornstarch
    • ½teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼teaspoon sugar
    • ¼teaspoon salt
    • 1teaspoon soy sauce
    • Black pepper
    • 1tablespoon vegetable oil
    • 1tablespoon egg white (from 1 egg; save the rest for an omelet)

    For the Stir-fry

    • 1tablespoon vegetable oil
    • ¼pound asparagus (4 to 5 medium stalks), cut into 1-inch pieces
    • 6large button mushrooms, quartered (about 4 ounces)
    • ½red bell pepper, sliced
    • Salt and black pepper
    • 3tablespoons butter
    • 1tablespoon soy sauce
    • 1lemon wedge
    • Toasted sesame seeds, for serving (optional)
    • Cooked rice, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

337 calories; 19 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 22 grams protein; 519 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Marinate the chicken: In a bowl, combine chicken, cornstarch, baking soda, sugar, salt, soy sauce and a few cracks of black pepper. Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of egg white. Using a spoon, mix until well combined and the chicken appears glossy and velvety. Cover bowl and refrigerate chicken for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

  2. Step 2

    When chicken is marinated, place a colander in your sink. In a saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Carefully add marinated chicken to the boiling water. Use tongs or chopsticks to separate the pieces (some egg white may float to the surface). Cook for 90 seconds, then drain the chicken in the colander. Shake the colander to remove excess liquid (the chicken won’t be fully cooked yet).

  3. Step 3

    Start the stir-fry: Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high. When the oil is hot (it should flow quickly when you tilt the pan), add the asparagus, mushrooms and bell pepper and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer chicken from the colander to the skillet and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir-fry constantly for 1 minute.

  4. Step 4

    Push the chicken and vegetables to one side of the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. In an empty area of the skillet, add the butter, allowing it to melt and sizzle. Then pour the soy sauce onto the butter and stir to combine. Push the chicken and vegetables into the sauce and stir-fry for 30 seconds. (The sauce should cling to the chicken.)

  5. Step 5

    Transfer to a platter and squeeze juice from the lemon wedge over top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. Serve immediately with rice.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,659 user ratings
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Comments

Kevin Pang

@Carla Hi Carla, it’s Kevin Pang, the recipe developer here. Yes, you can velvet the chicken a day in advance and keep it in your fridge until it’s ready for stir-frying.

Kevin Pang

@Brownhut Kevin the recipe developer here. You should use light soy sauce if it’s a Chinese-style soy, but here I prefer the Japanese-style shoyu (like a Kikkoman).

Squirrel Butler

Brownhut, how do you know this needs some oyster sauce and sesame oil? Is it because that's "the way I always do it and I know best"? I am genuinely curious about why someone would criticize a recipe (which you are doing) without offering a rationale, or even a "I made this recipe and feel it is missing something".

Rosanne

The step to "velvet" the chicken is really important. It adds a step or two, but wow does it make a difference! Love this recipe!

Isabelle

The technique of tenderizing the chicken totally worked, glad to know about it. I found the dish to be lacking in flavor and ended up adding granulated garlic (fresh would be my preference but I was ready to serve), powdered ginger (prefer fresh but this worked), more soy along with some extra dark soy, and white pepper. I also would have like it to have more sauciness, the butter and soy coated the ingredients but didn't really create a sauce, so next time I'll at least add broth of some kind.

Wendy

Made this tonight and have to say that I wasn't impressed. The only change I made was in using bok choy instead of asparagus cuz that's what I had in the fridge. For the extra efforts of velveting the chicken the flavor was only "meh." My favorite stir fry from NY times continues to be the Stir Fried Green Beans with Pork and Chilies.

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