Reveal Chinese Restaurant Secret Technique: Oil Velveting Explained

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Today we’re making classic Sichuan Spicy and Numbing Beef (香辣牛柳)—and I will use this recipe to reveal the biggest Chinese restaurant secret technique: 滑油. This method delivers a tenderness no other method can truly compete with. Try it once, and you’ll thank me later.

Huayou (滑油huá yóu) often called oil velveting in English, but I like to call it oil poaching because that is what the technique is about. Lightly coated meat quickly passes through moderately hot oil—just hot enough to set the surface without any browning. This process locks in moisture and flavor and protects the meat during stir-frying. The result is that ultra-smooth, silky, restaurant-style texture everyone loves.

Ingredients

350g / 12.3 oz of beef, recommend flank steak, New York strip, ribeye, and sirloin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper powder (Amazon Link - https://geni.us/white-peppercorns)
1/4 tsp of garlic powder (Amazon Link - https://geni.us/garlic-powder)
1 egg white
1 tbsp soy sauce (Amazon Link - https://geni.us/light-soy-sauce)
2.5 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp of water
2 tbsp of oil to coat the beef
1.5 cups of oil to poach the beef
227g / 0.5 lb of bean sprouts
2 tbsp of oil to stir fry
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced
1-2 Tbsp of red chili flakes or powder (Amazon Link - https://geni.us/chili-flake)
1 tbsp of Sichuan Dou Ban Jiang (Amazon Link - https://geni.us/Sichuan-dou-ban-jiang)
5 Thai bird eye chilies, diced
2 green chili peppers, diced
85g / 3 oz of celery
1/2 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorn powder (Amazon Link - https://geni.us/sichuan-peppercorns)