Coating
Cooking pastes and coating are also used for foods that will be stir-fried, quick-fried or slippery-fried because they impart a soft, slippery quality to the dish.
The most common batter is made of cornstarch and water. It is usually made of two parts cornstarch to one part water and is used in deep-frying and slippery-frying. It cooks into a crisp, yellowish-brown crust when deep-fried.
A batter of egg white and cornstarch is used in stir-frying and slippery-frying. The batter remains white after cooking, but the food inside is tender.
An egg yolk and cornstarch batter may also be used in deep-frying and slippery-frying. It results in a golden-brown coating.
The flour and egg yolk coating is actually a two-step process. The food is first dipped in flour and then into beaten egg yolk.
Another two-step process is egg and bread-crumb coating. The food is first dipped in beaten egg yolks and then rolled in bread crumbs. When deep-fried, the coating turns crisp and golden-brown.