Marinating chicken and then cornflour

[AdamPeterson]

Ive marinaded some chicken pieces in madras paste, garlic, tomato puree, 3 tbs soy, 3tbs malt vinegar, 3tbs lemon juice, mixed herbs, bbq sauce, a little cumin powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and will leave it in the fridge for an hour or more, im just wondering should i dust the chicken pieces in cornflour or dip into cornflour/water mixture? Ive never used cornflour before and seen it on that new chinese cookery show ann the girl says it locks in the flavour, should i use the cornflour, or just fry the chicken as it is? What exactly will cornflour bring extra to the flavour or consistency?

[anneasquith]

not sure about adding cornflour,but it sounds yummy.

[AdamPeterson]

Im looking forward to it anne, but by adding the cornflour ill either bring a little je nais sais que extra or it will mess my meal up bigtime so im 50/50 at the mo.

[stewey]

I'd like to add that marinating something for an hour does absolutely nothing. You should marinate for at least 12 hours in order to tenderize the food and allow the marinde to impart some flavor to it.

[anneasquith]

awe come on stewey, hes looking forward to his dinner, now youve just wasted it for him,actually when marinading as long as possible ie 24 hours is advised, but an hour is better than nothing

[stewey]

Ok...sorry. Yes, anne; one hour is better than nothing, and it gives you the feeling that you have done something to improve the food.

[champipple]

Weird combo,would have been better mixed with natural yoghurt..

[anneasquith]

great answer stewey, very diplomatic. ap. if i were you get it eaten quick then let us know how it was . enjoy

[mike11111]

Or tinned tomatoes. I seem to remember they were very popular on here a couple of weeks back.

[anneasquith]

AP. just looking at your ingredients again, is there anything you didnt add ?are you frying the chicken ?

[Adam-Peterson]

Sorry slight technical hitch.
Anyways stewey i usually do 24 hours but decided at the last minute to cook, the hour will infuse the flavours and the soy/lemon juice/vinegar acids will chemically cook the meat further driving the flavours in i like to think.
Champipple no yogurt im afraid!
Or no tinned toms mike!

So will i wreck the meal by adding the cornflour?

[anneasquith]

just add the cornflour, dont think will add flavour, may well change the consistancy.

[boxtops]

I wouldn't add water to the cornflour, since it's only been in the marinade for an hour it might dilute the coating.

[champipple]

It will just thicken the sauce

[pastafreak]

I ALWAYS INCLUDE CORNFLOUR IN CHINESE MARINADES...IT HELPS TO KEEP THE MEAT MOIST,AND PREVENTS IT FROM TOUGHENING DURING COOKING.

Ooops...sorry about the caps.

The cornflour will not affect the flavour in any way.

[237SJ]

I personally wouldn`t use cornflour in a marinade (not one with some Indian style sauces anyway). I might use it to thicken a sauce but not a marinade. I`d fry it as it is.
By the way I was watching an Indian chef on This Morning a couple of days ago (Reza someone) and he was making lamb passandar. He said 40 mins marinade is enough.

[pastafreak]

Some information on the use of cornstarch ....it is also said to be a meat tenderiser in Chinese cooking,where it is most commonly used....but that does not mean it is LIMITED to that cuisine.

http://chinesefood.ab...sary/g/cornstarch.htm

[jack daniels]

here's the recipe for lamb pasanda

http://thismorning.it...ing/food/lamb-pasanda

Anna x

I use the 'dipping meat' in cornflour method for chinese food only

[237SJ]

Anna, I copied that down as well. I fancy trying it with chicken though as I`m not mad on lamb. I might try it this week. It looks good and it`s not high in fat either.