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What is the secret?
Any good recipes?
I'm making something.. But not very good.
TIA,
Vince
Any good recipes?
I'm making something.. But not very good.
TIA,
Vince
Chinese fried rice..
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Zwiefel
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I'm not claiming to be an expert but the things I have learned: leftover rice from the day before is best, it needs to be at least cooled to room temp but fridge temp is better I think, a bit of sesame oil at the end gives a nice flavor, super duper hot skillet/wok before putting food in.
Jordanp
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Fried rice is just about using up leftover rice and meat/veg from the night before. In my fried rice ill use leftover white rice with whatever veg/meat I have leftover then season with soy sauce, oyster sauce/hoisin, chilli oil, sesame oil, and togarashi. Obviously this is not authentic but fried rice is just about using leftovers as Zwiefel said starting in a super hot pan and moving it quickly so it doesn't stick to much to the pan, drying out the rice so its not a big clump.
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Okay, I'll keep trying. I'm just not getting the flavor profile I want. I'll hit up Amazon for some better sauces.
Thanks!
Thanks!
The best fried rice I ever have had was here in Indy a long time ago....the egg roll house on W 38th St. The guy cooked the rice on a flattop. He used either lard or bacon grease and always had small diced ham in it.....very light on the soy. Great egg rolls too...but alas he is no more and nothing compares to it now.
I have come close but cannot it get it there because I lack a flattop. I use very little soy. Diced veggies and just a smidgen of five spice powder in the oil. Diced ham and a fry a little chopped bacon for the flavoring.
I have come close but cannot it get it there because I lack a flattop. I use very little soy. Diced veggies and just a smidgen of five spice powder in the oil. Diced ham and a fry a little chopped bacon for the flavoring.
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Five spice...
boomchakabowwow
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hey now!!
as a Chinese person, that has eaten about 55 gallons of fried rice..i consider myself a bit of an expert.
there are two schools of thought. hong kong style which has NO soy sauce. and the other kind. soy sauce.
i like to contradict the above. using hot rice makes things happen a lot faster and easier. i use whatever rice there is..but it helps to cook it a tad on the dry side. have everything ready.
lately, here is what i do.
hot oil in a skillet. (i dont wok)
two eggs..get them broken up loosely.
in goes the hot rice. get it mixed up. sometimes i let it sit to fry a bit.
in goes the meat. (spam, ham, chinese sausage..whatever meat you have. i dont use much)
in goes the veggie. (i love finely sliced chinese broc stalks..but whatever veg..even frozen peas/corn)
salt, white pepper.
when it is all hot. fresh sliced green onion..get it warmed. done.
as a Chinese person, that has eaten about 55 gallons of fried rice..i consider myself a bit of an expert.
there are two schools of thought. hong kong style which has NO soy sauce. and the other kind. soy sauce.
i like to contradict the above. using hot rice makes things happen a lot faster and easier. i use whatever rice there is..but it helps to cook it a tad on the dry side. have everything ready.
lately, here is what i do.
hot oil in a skillet. (i dont wok)
two eggs..get them broken up loosely.
in goes the hot rice. get it mixed up. sometimes i let it sit to fry a bit.
in goes the meat. (spam, ham, chinese sausage..whatever meat you have. i dont use much)
in goes the veggie. (i love finely sliced chinese broc stalks..but whatever veg..even frozen peas/corn)
salt, white pepper.
when it is all hot. fresh sliced green onion..get it warmed. done.
Maggie's seasoning sauce.
Day old rice warmed in the microwave and to get that wok hai, a cast iron wok/skillet heated super hot. But keep everything moving once the rice is in !
Zwiefel
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Interesting. I found when using hot rice that it tended to break-up more (can make it a bit pasty sometimes) and the rice was rather mushy...now I'm wondering what else you do differently to avoid that.....
For the style of fried rice that I like:
Very hot wok. Carbon steel is best.
Overnight rice. Freshly cooked rice is too moist and tend to clump.
Traditionally the kind of rice called jasmine rice from Thailand or China is best.
I also use basmati because the loose discrete grains in its texture works well.
It's good to make sure that your rice is not in clumps - break it up, get it loose.
Resist overloading with too much ingredients.
I like crab meat, prawns, eggs, garlic chive flowers, snow peas, garlic, shallots. Sometimes, salted fish diced very small and/or dried shrimps.
Generally, avoid stuff with high water content like green leafy veggies for instance, or tomatoes - not that you'd use these I'm sure.
Quick fiery hot stirfry. First lightly brown the ingredients that you need to before adding the rice.
Timing is crucial. Cook it too long and it becomes soggy. You want it fluffy and light.
Cook in smallish portions. Even with a multiple ring gas stove you'd be challenged to get it right if you do a meal for say 4 or 5 people in one large batch.
A few shakes of very good sesame oil just before serving.
Very hot wok. Carbon steel is best.
Overnight rice. Freshly cooked rice is too moist and tend to clump.
Traditionally the kind of rice called jasmine rice from Thailand or China is best.
I also use basmati because the loose discrete grains in its texture works well.
It's good to make sure that your rice is not in clumps - break it up, get it loose.
Resist overloading with too much ingredients.
I like crab meat, prawns, eggs, garlic chive flowers, snow peas, garlic, shallots. Sometimes, salted fish diced very small and/or dried shrimps.
Generally, avoid stuff with high water content like green leafy veggies for instance, or tomatoes - not that you'd use these I'm sure.
Quick fiery hot stirfry. First lightly brown the ingredients that you need to before adding the rice.
Timing is crucial. Cook it too long and it becomes soggy. You want it fluffy and light.
Cook in smallish portions. Even with a multiple ring gas stove you'd be challenged to get it right if you do a meal for say 4 or 5 people in one large batch.
A few shakes of very good sesame oil just before serving.
Talim
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Actually what you want is rice that's slightly on the drier side than what you would normally eat as white rice. This why using day old rice is better than freshly cooked rice. Heating it up in the microwave further dries it up and plus you don't have to wait for it to heat up during cooking.
Tomato and egg fried rice is delicious...one of my favorite variants.
Really? I'm very curious. Can you describe this? Tomatoes diced or in slices? Lightly cooked or well cooked in?
cclin
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Tomato egg fried rice is very common dish in Taiwan; Janpaness also use tomato fried rice inside of Omurice. However, tomato egg fried rice doesn't use really "tomato", it just use "ketchup" for seasoning....
...a seasoning whose origin is traced to China, and other regions of Asia.
cclin
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Mushy/soaking meaning too much moist content in fried rice.......high heat & speedy stir fry is key point to make great fried rice.
when you use flash steam rice, make sure you cook the rice little bit harder (use only 85% water). Use gentle push & scoops up action when you stir fry, avoids chopping action to break up the rice.
[video=youtube;wvSJcFTAv3o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvSJcFTAv3o&index=23&list=WL"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvSJcFTAv3o&index=23&list=WL[/video]
echerub
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Lotta good info here.
The only thing I'll add is to remember your additional ingredients may add moisture. If you use too much "wet" ingredients, your fried rice will be mushy.
No need to add MSG, I'd say. If you use some mushrooms (what are they called in English? dried shiitake mushrooms?... dice them up after soaking, you don't need too much), add a little soya and a little sesame oil, and use nice high heat when cooking, you'll have good flavor.
The sesame oil is key. If I forget to add some in, it always feels like something is missing. A little goes a long way though.
The only thing I'll add is to remember your additional ingredients may add moisture. If you use too much "wet" ingredients, your fried rice will be mushy.
No need to add MSG, I'd say. If you use some mushrooms (what are they called in English? dried shiitake mushrooms?... dice them up after soaking, you don't need too much), add a little soya and a little sesame oil, and use nice high heat when cooking, you'll have good flavor.
The sesame oil is key. If I forget to add some in, it always feels like something is missing. A little goes a long way though.
We use diced tomatoes at home, or sometimes drained a bit to reduce the risk of sogginess, but it's generally fine if the tomatoes are fried with egg before getting incorporated into the rice.
I like the dancing rice bit! It's all about high heat and keeping it light and fluffy.
Xoo, I'll have a go at the tomato and egg combo. Thanks.
Oh, and Chinese sausage (Larp Cheong) is also great with fried rice. But my favourite ingredient for this is crab meat and prawns.
Xoo, I'll have a go at the tomato and egg combo. Thanks.
Oh, and Chinese sausage (Larp Cheong) is also great with fried rice. But my favourite ingredient for this is crab meat and prawns.
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Black or dark Soy has molasses. I have heard that.
You professionals probably know this, but for civilians (like me)...really high heat is essential to wok cooking. If you look and listen you'll hear the chef constantly turning the gas on and off (I first saw it at 50 seconds, and he does it a lot during the cook) - partly because of this being a video shoot, but I've seen the same technique in restaurants too. I have and use a propane wok burner and it does a really great job - first time I used it I burned ingredients. You can barely, BAREL get similar results cooking for 1 on a typical stove (in the US), but cooking anything more than a small dish and you really can't get close to the heat needed for the results desired. Good news is I think the wok burner was under $100
boomchakabowwow
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i imagined the spirit of this thread focusing on the home cook. basic home range top.
if you can get a wok with blistering jet engine heat..KUDOS!! that is the best way. then you damn well better have all the ingredients ready and at you side. it goes down very very fast.
my step dad had a chinese restaurant. what i learned at the pro wok burner doesnt even translate to my wimpy ass stovetop. i still remember my first batch of fried rice. super fun.
i use a turkey fryer burner when i need horsepower. that happens outside. which is a good thing. woks and indoors, is a disaster. without an awesome vent hood. this turkey burner is the best deer camp cook tool. the best.
if you can get a wok with blistering jet engine heat..KUDOS!! that is the best way. then you damn well better have all the ingredients ready and at you side. it goes down very very fast.
my step dad had a chinese restaurant. what i learned at the pro wok burner doesnt even translate to my wimpy ass stovetop. i still remember my first batch of fried rice. super fun.
i use a turkey fryer burner when i need horsepower. that happens outside. which is a good thing. woks and indoors, is a disaster. without an awesome vent hood. this turkey burner is the best deer camp cook tool. the best.
