So, I’m having to go to Shogun every week to get my fried rice fix, because I have no idea how to make the stuff properly at home.
What’s the secret? The chef always pours on some kind of seasoning, but I have no idea what the heck it is. Is it something common I can buy by the gallon, or am I stuck buying those tiny envelopes of “fried rice seasoning mix”?
Help me out here. What do I need to do to make great fried rice at home?
Use seasame oil. Use plenty of ginger (ground is okay, but fresh is best) and garlic. There are several brands of seasoning sauces in most grocery stores; but all you really have to have is soy sauce. You must have a wok and cook on *high heat, as hot as your stove can get.
Sorry, meant to preview. The brand of seasoning sauce I like is House Of Tsang Stir-Fry Sauce Classic.
Start with cold cooked rice. If it’s still warm it tends to stick together in a glob.
I’m the fried rice fuckin’ master. I lived with a chinese guy for 2 years. I’d put my fried rice up against anyone’s on earth.
Homebrew, don’t mix up fried rice and stir fry. Different things.
The long story:
For fried rice, for starters. . .you need the right kind of rice. That’s the major major point.
There’s a Japanese brand called “Kohoko” or “Kokoho” that works well. I also use a jasmine rice. Major point: don’t cook the rice too wet. But you need enough water or the rice won’t get soft enough. So, you start out with cooked rice.
Also, it’s probably easier to cook the rice and use it for fried rice after it’s sat for several hours, or even a whole day.
After that, it’s pretty easy.
Heat a wok with enough vegetable oil to pool a little. Beat together 2-3 eggs with some salt. Pour the eggs into the oil and cook through, pushing the edges in to get all the runny stuff. Flip the egg.
Egg is key.
Now, at this point, you might have some chicken/pork/beef.shrimp that’s been marianating (not for too long) in soy & sugar. Maybe some ginger. Cook that in the wok. Not necessary though.
I ALWAYS put spring onions in fried rice. You can cook them BRIEFLY in the wok or just add them raw at the end.
Cook and drain none/any/all of peas/broccoli/beans/sprouts/frozen carrots and add at the end.
Now, you have all your ingredients ready. . .it’s time to fry the rice. Heat the wok again if it has cooled. It should have a coating of oil on it, but if not, add a little more.
When the oil is hot, in with the rice. . .dump it all in at once, and add regular soy sauce to it. How much depends on taste, but you can always add more. . .you can’t take it out and soy sauce can make things VERY salty. Keep the rice moving with a wooden spoon until it has all gotten dark. ONly take a minute. If you let some sti on the bottom, you can get a few crusty pieces, which you might like.
The Chinese guy used to add a lot of sugar while stirring. I don’t like to.
You can also add MSG while stirring. I sometimes do.
Now, off the heat, and add the egg and other ingredients which should all be warm. Stir it all together as you break up the egg into bite sized pieces.
The short story:
Cook rice normally, but a little dry.
Heat oil in a wok, dump in the rice. Add soy sauce and stir until the soy has darkened the rice.
That’s fried rice.
But seriously, the egg is essential. You can use better meats and veggies and eggs than a chinese restaurant. Makes a great meal. Makes great left overs.
Thanks, TRUNK.
I just emailed your post to my home because I also am no good at fried rice.
So you cook the egg and then take it out and save it, cook the rice, and then add the egg back in? I’m just making sure 'cause I’m a really novice cook…
Yes, exactly.
The egg should get puffy. You get nice, hearty pieces of eggs, not little thin bits of frozen eggs like at a chinese place.
It cooks up a little differently than when you do an omelette. Maybe because it soaks up some of the oil.
You don’t want to whisk the hell out of the egg. Beat it some, but leave it with clear parts and yellow parts. Add salt to it before you beat it, a good portion of salt.
Size-wise: normally we use 2 cups of rice, and 3 eggs. That’s 2 big suppers and at least good sized leftovers. You can really get 4 hearty servings out of it.
A good meat suggesting is ground pork. Just let it soak in some soy sauce.
Also, we might cook two pork tenderloins on one night. Eat one for dinner, then use the other for fried rice the next day. Just last week we cooked like a 6 pound chicken and we had so much left over bird that we used it in fried rice.
It’s not the easiest dish in the world, but it’s fun, uses a lot of ingredients, and you can really tailor it to your desires. Less meat, more meat, no meat, whatever.
I always put that “sriracha” chili paste on it when I eat it.
You’ve mostly described my technique, I just use the stir-fry sauce I mentioned as well as the Soy Sauce for flavor. But otherwise you’ve kinda lost me. Stir-fry is the method of cooking meats and or veggies in a hot work with a little oil, right? (Egg) Fried rice is the mostly rice dish with (stir-fried) rice, eggs, peas and carrots, and sometimes a meat. Nicht wahr?
HA! You proclaim your accomplishments to the world just as I do! I don’t know how many times I’ve said, “I’m the [insert noun AD-LIBS style] fuckin’ master!!!” The chicks dig that kind of stuff.
Do you really need a wok or will any old saucepan do? I tried to follow a recipe for fried rice at home a few weeks ago but it didn’t turn out well.
A wok is best, and it’s got to be HOT.
Yes, right.
When you said to use sesame oil, and plenty of ginger and garlic, that sounded more like someone making stir-fry than fried-rice.
Stir-fry I think of as the meats and veggies primarily, and you can toss them on some rice or noodles, or just eat plain. I don’t usually cook that.
Fried rice is primarily rice.
So we’re on the same page, then. I just love garlic and ginger. I also think the sesame oil gives a better flavor than plain vegetable oil. I do love fried rice.
Adding ketchup can be the secret sauce. Don’t laugh, even my Chinese mother in law that will make herself sick thinking about non-Chinese food likes my fried rice. Put the ketchup in at the end. The sweet and sour combo can come out quite nicely (you have to experiment).
Another way to do the egg, is first fry up all your rice and stuff, and then create an empty space in the middle of the wok (push all the rice into an outer ring). I just crack the egg (s) into the middle space, mix it as I cook, then when the eggs are still a little runny start mixing them in with the rice. Stir around the combined rice and eggs for 30-60 seconds and you’re good to go. If you go with the ketchup option, that goes in when you mix the egg and rice together.
Ok you lost me there. becasue I was agreeing with pretty much everything you said, and had just came to to say “egg is important”. But I’ve always done it like China Guy…the whole beauty of it is to get the egg to coat the rice and give it that nice texture. As oposed to bits of egg next to bits of rice. But, to each his own. (For example I wouldn’t go near China Guy’s ketchup thing :))
Beyond that, I’d agree with Homebrew…about the sesame and the garlic and the ginger. But just add, yeah you can go with ground ginger, but fresh ginger is *definatly * worth the effort.