Fried Rice - Secret Cooking technique

Ok... i always say if you want to test the skill of the cook, go to a restaurant and order fried rice. You will find that no one person can cook the same taste fried rice. The thing is fried though seem simple is actually one of the hardest to cook. The flavor is so subtle that you need to make sure you don't get it wrong.

Right the secret -

1. Rice - Yes left over rice is best because it is able to be cooked without breaking up. Cook rice tends to breakup as there is too much moisture. Now the type of rice is also important the best rice in my opinion - Long Grain, then Basmati, then the least favourite Jasmine rice. DON'T ever use JASMINE... they become like mash potato when you fry them, their strength is that they always remain light and fluffy, that is why people like to eat them, but their strength is actually a flaw in the dish

2. Hot Wok - Fried rice MUST be cooked over a hot WOK... when i say HOT, i mean HOT. The Wok brings out the slight burned flavour.

3. The important ingredient - garlic, onion and spring onion. These are the 3 must haves in the fried rice. Key is to fry these ingredient with the rice separately. Use a HOT wok, drizzle with opil , once it starts to smoke, throw in the onion, the spring onion and garlic ( the key ingredient ) then after a couple of second throw in the rice.

4. Then the other ingredient - some people use : Bacon bits, celery, prawns, chinese sausage, chicken, beef, eggs etc.

5. The sauce : If you want the chinese style use : soy sauce, a little chicken stock, salt, pepper, chinese cooking wine and sesame oil For the malay style - use also sweet sauce and a little chilli ( can be dry) . For japanese of fusion style you can use also jasmine tea leaves... i just grab my jasmine tea bag and use the dried tea leaves : unique flavour. For thai style use : fish sauce, or pineapple

I suppose there is no one way key way to cook. The important thing is understanding taste and texture. Fried rice can be common or as unique as what you want it to be


How i would do it :

1. I will first fry the eggs - just beat up the eggs put in some salt and pepper - cook it but not fully, it should be a little runny.
2. Then i will fry the rice with the 3 ingredients
3. Then i will use the ingredients depending usually i would mix bacon bits with prawns and use chinese seasoning.
4. Lastly dump all 3 together and stir fry it

Remember creativity is the key. Just remember the essentials and you can basically any fried rice you want.

Enjoy cooking