Huh. I don’t do nearly this much. Rather, it’s 2 cups jasmine rice, 2 cups water, instapot, fridge. As long as the rice sits overnight in the fridge, it’s pretty dry by the next day, and fluffs up and absorbs the flavors just fine.
I also don’t worry too much about high heat. I’ve got an electric glasstop stove and a wok with a slightly curved base, so I’m never going to get super-heat anyway. It still comes out pretty good, although I’m sure high heat would make it extra-tasty.
It’s not a super-quick meal, but it’s pretty quick: from start to finish (not counting the night-before rice-cooking), it’s maybe 30-45 minutes.
Different brands of rice can make a difference. Some California Jasmines are so clean that they just don’t care, and some feel like I’m handwashing dishes I get so pruney.
Since @jnglmassiv was specifically having a problem with gummy rice, I strongly suspect excess starch, it’s one of the more common causes for that particular rice snafu, assuming decent quality rice. And again, each rice is different, and each application is different, you treat it a bit differently for the best result.
For fried rice, I generally want mine extra clean, to best absorb all the flavors. Yeah, if I was in a hurry, or my brand of rice washed clean easily, a simple rinse might be enough, but for me, 3 is good. For sushi rice, I like it a bit more sticky, and go with 2 good rinses, because that’s the texture I want.
As for fried rice being fast . . . yeah, I don’t consider it fast, but that’s because I spend a lot of time with the mise en place. It makes the actual frying go fast, which I find helps, but it tends to be a good bit of prep. However, fried rice is a dish that also makes great refrigerator velcro in the words of Alton Brown.
You can take whatever you have on hand and zip it together. It might not be ‘perfect’ but it’ll still be good. Just depends what you want.
correct, putting the leaves and the spring onions at the end means they keep their “zing”. Also, as the mood takes me (and if If felt there was too much sweetness overall) I’ll squeeze in half a lime right at the end as well.
Agree. I keep it in a wide, flat bowl, uncovered, to maximize surface area and drying. If my fridge has room, I sometimes spread it on a baking sheet.
Also, when I start prepping my veggies and stuff before cooking (this is key: the actual cooking is fast and intense so you want to make sure everything is cut and measured and ready to go), I will take out the rice and toss it with a tablespoon or so of oil, making sure every grain is coated. Then I let it stand until it’s time to add it to the mixed fry. I’ve found this helps prevent clumping.
(I have a smaller European kitchen with an all-induction cooktop, which means I can’t use a proper round-bottomed wok; I have to use a flat vessel that makes contact with the induction surface. That means I have to manage my heat a little differently compared to flames under a wok.)
Heat should be high, yes. Rice should be dry. And undercooked a bit (it needs to fry without being overcooked). So when I boil mine, I sieve out and wash with COLD water immediately, to stop it still cooking on the cool down. That also gets the starch out too. Leave that for at least an hour in the sieve.
IMO the only requirements one must have for stir fried rice is starting with enough leftover cold rice and a heavy non stick pan preferably a carbon steel wok so you can crank up the heat/flame.
I was once gifted with a Non stick wok, wth am I to do with that? Gently heat soup? High heat destroys the coating yuck. That pan is a hanging yard ornament now it gives a nice PING tone when hit with acorns.
Cold rice is a big part of it. Backing up a little though, when the rice is first cooked it should be fluffed and tossed with a fork and fanning it with a paper plate, similar to the way sushi rice is prepared. This will get rid of a lot of excess moisture.
As already mentioned, the starch content matters. So either find a rice which starts clean or wash the rice before cooking. I have heard you can soak the rice to remove even more starch but I have never tried this.
Many years ago I noticed that lots of teppanyaki chefs use garlic butter or soy sauce mixed with butter in their fried rice. So I often finish all sorts of Asian dishes with a little butter at the end. I haven’t found much in the way of fried foods that isn’t improved by the substitution of butter for some of the other oils.
I love seeing the variants people have. So what have you tried that didn’t work?
My warning: red cabbage. I thought it’d be a delightful crunchy bit of color added to the mix. Instead, the red leached into the rice, turning everything this revolting gray-brown color.
Also, fresh basil leaves weren’t the hit I thought they’d be. The flavor was mostly overwhelmed by other flavors, leaving just the texture of limp basil leaves, which is not an especially appealing texture. I’m sure there’s some way to make fresh basil work (maybe chop it fine and mix it in thirty seconds from the end?), but after a failed experiment I didn’t try again.
All I really have to add is that if your wok is large enough, you don’t have to dump things out between ingredients, you can just push them off to the edges of the wok and work in the center. Some bits might get a little crunchy, even a bit burnt, but you kind of want that.
Yes. It doesn’t like heat. With rare exceptions, it should be added literally at the end of the cooking process. Have the chiffonade prepared, when everything’s done throw it in, stir and serve immediately.
Early on when making fried rice, I often tried to do everything in the wok, so there were less dishes to do… so on a few occasions, I’d overcrowd the pan, and if you’re doing something like mushrooms, well, let’s just say it was closer to risotto than fried rice. (( only slightly exaggerated for effect ))
Which is why I’m so fanatical about my mise these days.
I’m still trying to make fried rice, but I’m still not completely happy with the results. Having lived on the west and east coasts, I’ve encountered a fair amount of variety in (American) Chinese dishes. Strangely, though, fried rice has been pretty consistent from all the Chinese restaurants I’ve been to. There’s a certain taste, almost a nuttiness, that I haven’t been able to capture yet. I’ve got a new recipe, and I’m trying to gather the ingredients I need for it. Went to a local Asian market a couple days ago.
One thing I can’t find in a store is Chinese BBQ roast pork; I think char siu is the correct name for it. I have just ordered the roast pork appetizer from a local restaurant, but that seems to defeat the purpose of making fried rice myself. I I’m going to the restaurant anyway, I should just get their fried rice. I’ve found online recipes for char siu, but that’s a little more trouble than I’m hoping to go through.
So, does anyone know where I might find some char siu? Seems like a market or deli somewhere should have it. Any other updates for this thread; anybody made any fried rice breakthroughs since they last posted?
I’ve seen Char Sui for sale at my local Asian market in the past, in the same hot/fresh food option they had roast duck and a few other things. Sadly, that section has not returned after closing down due to COVID and probably won’t be back soonish due to inflation and other costs. There are a ton of online options to make your own though, so I wouldn’t bother - it’s worth it to make more than you need and set aside. Personally I normally freeze half of what I make (wife is vegetarian now, previously it was a double batch!) - thin slice the excess and bag it up, with some going into ramen and the rest into fried rice.
As for the nuttiness, I find that comes with super hot fast cooking and a lot of area to cook/move the food in. I have never been able to get it to my satisfaction on any electric stove (which is what I have), and thus my older post (and still current) best option of using a turkey fryer rig outside for a rocket hot heat source and a wok.
Otherwise I have subpar but still good enough fried rice in the house in my largest pan and smaller sized servings in the house, cooked as hot as I can manage but with loses due to sticking. TBH, when I want great fried rice, it’s a fine excuse for takeout.
The nutty flavour, I get from a sprinkle of toasted sesame oil, at the end. Adds the smell/flavour and helps separate the rice a bit to be less sticky.
I’ll keep looking; maybe I will wind up making my own. I live alone, so maybe I’ll need a vacuum sealer and freeze most of it.
I have a wok and a gas stove, so it’s worth a shot. Lately I’ve been turning the heat down so I don’t burn the garlic when I’m stir frying. Maybe I need more heat and more stirring.
I’ve tried that, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.
