Fried Rice
There are not enough words in the English dictionary to describe how much I love this dish. It just screams home comfort and I love the fact that you can eat this on its own and feel 100 per cent satisfied. You can literally add whatever you want: fish, meat, veg … it doesn’t matter as it will all taste great. Think of it as a Chinese bubble and squeak – whatever you have in your fridge, lob it in! There are just a couple of rules to making fried rice that will guarantee a fabulous result. 1) Use day-old rice that has been cooled in the fridge. The reason for this is simple: rice that has sat overnight in the fridge will have dried out, whereas if you use hot, freshly cooked rice it will turn sticky and need a lot of oil to cook. 2) Don’t use too much oil. This dish has been given a bad reputation over the years because of the word ‘fried’ in its title. But it’s not deep-fried like chips. You only use as much oil as you would need to stir-fry the healthiest vegetable dish. That’s it … so simple. Viva La Rice!
Equipment
- wok
Ingredients
- groundnut oil
- 2 Chinese sausages thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 4 eggs
- salt and ground white pepper
- 300 g long-grain rice cooked and chilled
- 75 g frozen peas
- 7 water chestnuts sliced
- 1 tin of anchovy fillets in oil drained and roughly chopped into very small pieces
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce to taste
- 2 spring onions trimmed and sliced
To serve
- Chinese chilli oil see here
- ½ a round lettuce leaves separated
Instructions
- Heat a wok until medium hot and add a dash of oil. Add the Chinese sausage slices and fry quickly on both sides until coloured all over, with the white parts turning pink. Remove and set aside. Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot wok and pour in the beaten eggs. Scramble the eggs, scraping the bits that are sticking to the wok. Aim for well-cooked scrambled egg that is separating into individual pieces. Once cooked, add the rice, scraping the bottom of the pan and tossing the rice as you heat it through. Once the rice is hot, add the remaining ingredients, except for the sausage. Continue to cook over a medium heat, tossing and mixing. Once the anchovies are beginning to melt into the hot rice, taste and season with pepper and a pinch of salt. Continue to stir-fry for 3–4 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more soy sauce if necessary.
- Serve the fried rice with the cooked Chinese sausage, chilli oil and lettuce, wrapping spoonfuls of the rice inside the lettuce leaves to eat.
Notes
Original recipe found in Gok Cooks Chinese