Let me start off by saying that this recipe is not a clone of what you’re going to find at a typical Chinese restaurant. I’ve never worked at a Chinese restaurant so I don’t exactly know all the details of what’s involved. However, I do have a couple of ideas. First, I’m pretty certain they use day old rice. This is because the rice will have dried out somewhat and will become less likely to clump together. And second, their grills are capable of getting much hotter than what you and I can achieve at home.
I think those are two of the reasons that the fried rice you get in restaurants tastes like it does. The following recipe is pretty close to what you’ll find at a deli in a grocery store. Now, if you have the time to let the cooked rice sit overnight, by all means use it instead.
This particular recipe I will be using pork. But you can just as easily make this a vegetarian style fried rice by leaving the meat out and possibly the eggs as well. Also, as it’s just a generic recipe, you can swap the pork out for chicken or beef if you prefer.
Long grain white rice works quite well for fried rice. It tends to be fluffy and not as sticky as medium or short grain rice. The individual grains stay firm and separated. This is due to a couple different starch molecules: amylose and amylopectin.
Long grain white rice has a significantly higher amount of amylose. It ranges from 19-23 percent, and it also contains less amylopectin than other types of rice. Glutinous rice, otherwise known as sticky rice, is high in amylopectin, but only contains a maximum of 1 percent amylose.
Some people prefer to use the well known Thai Jasmine rice as another option. It has a sweet aroma and a slight nutty flavor to it. Jasmine is a long grain rice, but it has less amylose than regular long grain white rice and still ends up being slightly sticky when cooked.
Another option could be Basmati rice. It does contain a higher percentage of amylose, and might be a better choice. In the end, it really comes down to what you like best. But for this recipe I’ll be using regular long grain white rice.
Fried Rice
By: Semiserious Chefs
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
- 1 cup long grain white rice (or whatever you like)
- 1 1/2 cups cold water (one and a half cups for the rice)
- 1/2 pound diced (pork, chicken, or beef)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup frozen diced peas and carrots
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
Directions:
- In a medium sauce pan, add the water and rice.
- Cover the sauce pan and turn the heat to high.
- When the water begins to boil, turn heat to low and let simmer until all the water has been soaked up by the rice. Resist the temptation to remove the lid to look at the rice. I usually let the rice sit over low heat for about 45 minutes but you might not need that long.
- Dice up your preferred meat and set aside.
- In another small sauce pan, add the frozen peas and carrots and then add enough water to cover them.
- Let this water come to a boil then remove them from heat and drain the water. Set aside.
- Get a large skillet, add the vegetable oil, and sauté the pork (or whatever meat you diced) over high heat for 1-2 minutes or until done.
- Toss in the peas and carrots giving it all a quick stir.
- Next, add the two eggs and scramble them in with the meat, carrots and peas.
- Scoop in the now cooked white rice.
- Add the soy sauce and let rice fry for another couple minutes making sure to stir regularly.
- Serve with your favorite main dish.
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