As a child, dining out most often meant driving to Chinatown or to a Chinese restaurant beyond the perimeter of Chinatown. Back then, my brother and I did not know that the proper way to enjoy Chinese food is with plain -- neutral-tasting -- rice so as not to detract from the flavors of the meat, seafood, poultry and vegetables. As children, we loved colors and shapes in our food and that meant ordering a platter of yang chow fried rice with the lovely bits of sweet-salty Chinese sausage, chopped roast pork, the tiniest cubes of carrot, green peas that looked like miniature balls and strips of scrambled egg. What's not to love?
Years and years later as my fried rice repertoire expanded, I would learn that those bits of meat and vegetables are not at all essential to fried rice. In fact, there is a humongous world of fried rice out there and, even in China, yang chow is only one in thousands of fried rice recipes.
In Southeast Asia, there are many fried rice dishes with hardly visible bits of meat, seafood and vegetables. The Indonesian nasi goreng, for instance, relies heavily on the spice base which, depending on the combination of spices, gives the rice a unique flavor. In the Philippines, sinangag (literally, fried rice) is tossed with browned garlic bits and seasoned with salt.
In other words, to understand the essence of fried rice as it is eaten in Asia, one must veer away from the thinking that there are "required" ingredients apart from the rice, cooking oil, spices and seasonings. The fact is that only those four are required; everything else is "anything goes". What else is added depends on what you want to add. In essence, fried rice is a dish made with leftovers. The previous day's rice, leftover bits of meat or seafood, small pieces of vegetables -- each of which, by itself, is insufficient to create a dish so they are all tossed together to come up with one dish of sufficient quantity to feed the entire family.Â
What rice should be used for making fried rice? There are two things to remember:
1. Glutinous rice is the wrong choice; and
2. Refrain from using newly-cooked rice because the grains are too moist and soft.
The best fried rice is made with long-grain that had been cooked a dar earlier so that it has had a chance to dry out a bit. Rub the cooked rice between your hands to separate the grains before cooking.
The rice is not thrown into the wok until the spice base is ready. The spice base can be as simple as minced garlic or something as complex as sambal which consists of several spices (and, occasionally, herbs). The spices are added to the oil and cooked gently until the oil soaks up the flavors and colors of the spices. Only at that point is the rice added.
When using bits of meat, seafood and vegetables, add them to the spice base before the rice. If the meat and seafood are already cooked (as would be the case if they came from leftover dishes), add the vegetables to the wok before the meat. The vegetables, after all, need to cook while the meat and seafood only need to get heated through.
While the terms spices and seasonings are used interchangeably in some culinary cultures, they have very distinct meanings and uses when cooking fried rice. To fully understand the distinction, think of the cooking technique known as layering flavors. The spice base is the first layer of flavor while the seasonings (salt, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, etcetera), poured after the rice is already in the wok, consist the final layer of flavor.
When cooking fried rice, eggs are always optional.
If adding eggs, there are three ways to integrate them:
1. Fry the scrambled eggs ahead of everything else. Lay flat on a chopping board, roll like a cigar and cut into thin strips. Add to the fried rice last and toss.
2. When the fried rice is done, push to the edges of the pan to create a space in the center. Pour in the beaten eggs. Stir the eggs in a slow circular motion, the circle growing wider and wider as the eggs cook until the circle includes the rice that had been pushed to the edges.
3. Add the eggs as a garnish. Place a fried egg on top of the fried rice before serving or make an omelet with the fried rice as filling.
Years and years later as my fried rice repertoire expanded, I would learn that those bits of meat and vegetables are not at all essential to fried rice. In fact, there is a humongous world of fried rice out there and, even in China, yang chow is only one in thousands of fried rice recipes.
In Southeast Asia, there are many fried rice dishes with hardly visible bits of meat, seafood and vegetables. The Indonesian nasi goreng, for instance, relies heavily on the spice base which, depending on the combination of spices, gives the rice a unique flavor. In the Philippines, sinangag (literally, fried rice) is tossed with browned garlic bits and seasoned with salt.
In other words, to understand the essence of fried rice as it is eaten in Asia, one must veer away from the thinking that there are "required" ingredients apart from the rice, cooking oil, spices and seasonings. The fact is that only those four are required; everything else is "anything goes". What else is added depends on what you want to add. In essence, fried rice is a dish made with leftovers. The previous day's rice, leftover bits of meat or seafood, small pieces of vegetables -- each of which, by itself, is insufficient to create a dish so they are all tossed together to come up with one dish of sufficient quantity to feed the entire family.Â
1. The rice must not be newly cooked
What rice should be used for making fried rice? There are two things to remember:
1. Glutinous rice is the wrong choice; and
2. Refrain from using newly-cooked rice because the grains are too moist and soft.
The best fried rice is made with long-grain that had been cooked a dar earlier so that it has had a chance to dry out a bit. Rub the cooked rice between your hands to separate the grains before cooking.
2. The spice base
The rice is not thrown into the wok until the spice base is ready. The spice base can be as simple as minced garlic or something as complex as sambal which consists of several spices (and, occasionally, herbs). The spices are added to the oil and cooked gently until the oil soaks up the flavors and colors of the spices. Only at that point is the rice added.
3. Meat, seafood and vegetables are optional
When using bits of meat, seafood and vegetables, add them to the spice base before the rice. If the meat and seafood are already cooked (as would be the case if they came from leftover dishes), add the vegetables to the wok before the meat. The vegetables, after all, need to cook while the meat and seafood only need to get heated through.
4. The seasonings
While the terms spices and seasonings are used interchangeably in some culinary cultures, they have very distinct meanings and uses when cooking fried rice. To fully understand the distinction, think of the cooking technique known as layering flavors. The spice base is the first layer of flavor while the seasonings (salt, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, etcetera), poured after the rice is already in the wok, consist the final layer of flavor.
5. Adding eggs
When cooking fried rice, eggs are always optional.
If adding eggs, there are three ways to integrate them:
1. Fry the scrambled eggs ahead of everything else. Lay flat on a chopping board, roll like a cigar and cut into thin strips. Add to the fried rice last and toss.
2. When the fried rice is done, push to the edges of the pan to create a space in the center. Pour in the beaten eggs. Stir the eggs in a slow circular motion, the circle growing wider and wider as the eggs cook until the circle includes the rice that had been pushed to the edges.
3. Add the eggs as a garnish. Place a fried egg on top of the fried rice before serving or make an omelet with the fried rice as filling.
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