Fried rice is pretty easy to make, once you know how, but parts can be tricky, and it takes a lot of practice to get really good at it.
For one, you want to use day old rice. So cook the rice the night before, and let it sit in the fridge. I don't rinse my rice, especially for fried rice, but you might want to rinse yours. I like long grain white rice for fried rice.
Also, the eggs, you want to add a little water to them (maybe a tbsp to 3 eggs), and stir them up a little before you add them to the hot rice, and sort of make a "hole" in the middle of the rice, and then scramble the eggs on the bare pan, until you've got cooked scrambled eggs, before mixing them back into the rice.
I like sweet baby peas (don't cook them before hand, infact frozen peas are fine), diced cooked carrots (small dice, simmered until somewhat softened, but not mushy. You want them firmish, with a bite to them.), mushrooms (I like oyster mushrooms, cut into quarters, with the stems removed), diced preboiled white breast chicken (preferrably with the skin still on, and in pretty large pieces--see below), peeled shrimps (precooked will probably work better, but I just cook mine right before, or along with the fried rice), lots of garlic (I'll used 3-6 cloves, diced finely), some fresh grated ginger (maybe a tsp to a tbsp, depending on how much you like ginger), a tiny bit of dried chili flakes (half a tsp or less), some chopped green onions (aka scallions, half a cup will do) and maybe some of those big yellow bean sprouts they sometimes have at the store.
Also, I like using Hawaiian soy sauce, because it's good quality (Hawaii has a large Asian community), and usually cheaper than the Asian imports.
White wine, or rice wine, mixed with chicken stock in equal parts (maybe a total of 1/4 to 1/3 cup), and a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, is optional. Diced ham or Chinese style BBQ pork meat is also optional.
If using ham, I'd fry it first until slightly crispy, maybe with a little honey and a little soy (say a tablespoon of each) and then let it dry on a paper towel until cool, then dice into medium small cubes.
You'll want to crack 2 or 3 eggs, and then pour the contents into a measuring cup, or small bowl. Add a little water, and stir with a fork until the yolks are broken up. Set that aside someplace safe.
Peanut oil is good, but you can use any kind of oil, and I like extra virgin olive oil. You'll want to add maybe 3 tablespoons to a broad frying pan (the bigger the pan, the better, and woks ofcourse work great), and heat the oil on medium high (a setting of 7 out of 10) for 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to use a wet pan, or have any water or other liquids around the pan, because they can cause the oil to splatter. And, ofcourse, don't touch the pan anywhere but on the handle.
Add the chili flakes and ginger to the pan and then (immediately) carefully add the day-old rice (small spoonfuls at a time work good). You'll want about 1 cup of uncooked rice for 2-3 people (more or less). Once the rice is added, add the garlic (you don't want it to scorch, so don't add it with the ginger/chilis), and stir the rice mixture gently but thoroughly into the hot oil.
Take the pan off the heat, and using a serving spoon, carefully push the rice mixture to the edges of the pan, until you've got a hole in the middle, with the pan bottom showing through. Put the pan back on the heat, and immediately add your egg mixture. Don't touch the rice at this point, just let it cook, and only stir the eggs occasionally, until you've got pretty thoroughly scrambled eggs. You can turn the heat down if you want, to keep the eggs from scorching, if you need to.
The important thing is: thoroughly cooked, puffy yellow scrambled eggs.
Once you've got that, you can add all your veggies, and your meat. Mix thoroughly, add the soy sauce (2 or 3 tbsp, or to taste), and if you want, the white wine/chicken stock mixture.
Cover and let cook on medium or medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Uncover the pan (be careful! it will be hot! so use a hotpad or an oven mitt), and stir again, thoroughly. Serve.
If you want it extra crispy on the bottom, you can turn the heat up to High, for a minute, maybe 2 at the most. Just be careful! It's easy to scorch it at that point, and not that hard to burn yourself, and/or set your house on fire, if you aren't careful.
In any case, that's the last (optional) step, so go ahead and serve.
(I take no legal responsibility for this recipe, or any results from it's use)
On the subject of the chicken: I prefer to use the Chinese method of taking a whole chicken, or chicken breast with bones and skin still on, and placing it into a large deep pan filled with good rich chicken stock (no salt added, and I like to make my own stock, from scratch). I then turn the stock off and let the chicken set for 30 minutes. I then take the chicken out of the cooled stock, and then remove any bones, and carefully slice the chicken, leaving the skin, and any fat, on the slices of meat. If you try doing that, then only add the chicken to the rice in the last 5 minutes, or you can even serve it alongside.
The stock you can then save and use to cook the rice in the night before, the next time you make fried rice.
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Topic: Neonivek's Mutant Cooking! (Read 12635 times)