[Sca-cooks] OT- fried rice recipe

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Oct 24, 2006, at 7:10 PM, Bronwynmgn at aol.com wrote:

> Can someone please give me a good basic fried rice recipe?  All  
> the  ones I
> can find online have weird ingredients like tomatoes, basil, and   
> cilantro...

Leave 'em out, then.

Fried rice is a really simple thing, just a way of using up leftovers  
or reheating previously-cooked rice for a large meal when you'll be  
busy for a long steaming process.

Basically, you want as much cooked rice (usually, but not always, a  
long-grain Carolina-type is a good choice, not parboiled, converted  
or --shudder-- Minute Rice) as you'll need, plus whatever extras you  
want.

The main trick is actually frying it, and that's where people often  
go wrong; they either add something liquid before the rice is really  
ready for it, resulting in a gummy mess, or burn it.

Ideally, your rice should be cooked and cold, broken apart in a  
mixing bowl into separate grains or at least small lumps. Large lumps  
fight back in the wok, and they generally win.

Standard garnishes might include scrambled eggs, ham, barbecued pork  
or Chinese sausage, marinated raw shrimp, raw or cooked chicken or  
beef, chopped onion or scallion, or mushrooms (this is a more or less  
Chinese approach -- Japanese fried rice can contain some weird stuff  
like ketchup and curry powder...).  In general you want to avoid  
adding vegetables that'll release a lot of water into your rice.

Standard method is to heat a wok, add oil (enough to cook everything  
and coat the rice with a very light sheen of oil -- this is something  
you learn best from experience), scramble a couple of beaten eggs in  
it, stirring constantly in one direction with the curved back of a  
fork until the eggs naturally shred themselves into small bits.  
Remove the eggs and reserve, add more oil if needed (if you want to  
include a little minced ginger root, add it here), and when the pan  
is hot again, add and cook any meat or, if using, chopped onion.  
Remove them and repeat the process with the rice. Stir-fry it until  
you see the grains shiny and slightly puffed. You want them to expand  
and absorb the seasonings. When the rice is soft and fluffy but dry,  
add your seasonings, which would typically include white pepper and a  
Tbs or so of dark soy sauce. Additional salt and msg optional (I am  
not of the opinion that msg is necessarily Satanic in this type of  
dish, used discreetly). Some degenerates add a pinch of sugar. Return  
the eggs and other garnishes to the pan and mix -- if using scallion  
or raw bean sprouts, add them now. Stir-fry for just a few more  
seconds, plate and serve hot.

You can also cook the eggs separately as a thin omelette shredded  
with a knife, which you stir in, or cook the eggs separately and  
slide on top of the rice like a hat. Or omit them entirely.

HTH...

Adamantius