Sqwertz wrote:
>
> Somebody mentioned velveting, but I've always just used baking soda.
> 1/2tsp per lb of beef or pork sliced across the grain.
>
> They actually sell a special soda water at the Asian stores for just
> this purpose. A waste of money considering the price of baking soda...

I was in an Asian food store just a few minutes ago,
and I saw the product of which you speak. It's not
just baking soda and water. It also contains
potassium carbonate. I don't know how that changes
its action, but I don't think they'd put it in
if it didn't do something good. There were at
least two brands of the product.

I brought a pen and paper to copy down the bizarre
label I saw on a bottle of "cooking liquor". It
gave instructions like "soak meat and fish to remove
stench" or something like that. But it was gone!
This is a new store, only opened about a month ago.
I suppose this item was identified as a slow mover,
and taken out of the inventory.