Take-Out Fake-Out: It’s Chicken, like Velvet

By Katie Barreira

My favorite part of working in a test kitchen (okay, besides the eating) is learning something new about food. It could be cooking with an ingredient I’ve never used before or an innovative twist on a traditional dish. This week, I was introduced to an age-old culinary technique that changed the way I look at good old chicken.

I love the idea of making signature takeout fare at home, especially Chinese food. I’ve got the brown sauce down pretty well, but I had no idea what went into those clean and translucent, but rich white sauces served with stir-fried chicken.

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Easy Chinese New Year Dish Starts with a Bottled Sauce

By Sandy Hu

Special Fork food editor Linda Lau Anusasananan found herself in the Chinese sauce business quite by accident. She happened to sit at a food professionals’ meeting next to a food manufacturer who produced food products for other company’s brands.

Linda, an accomplished Chinese cook and a long-time member of the Sunset magazine food editorial staff, reflected, “I used to cook mostly Asian food at home and I found making the sauces took most of my time. In 1983 there weren’t many sauces available that were very good.” So she and her husband Terry took the plunge.

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