A “succulent Chinese meal”
Introduction
This draws from traditional Chinese stir-fried rice techniques I’ve learned over the years and added my own improvements – some of which might be recreating the wheel.
The minimum ingredients for stir-fried rice are – rice, oil, spring onion, egg and salt.
I’m not going to give fussy measurements, ballpark only – I never measure, and accept some variability in results; it’s always good regardless, once you get skilled at it. If you put way too much rich or way too much of one ingredient, you’ll ruin the dish and you’ll learn to never do that again. But if you’re in the ballpark, you’ll be fine.
The ingredients
The Rice – around two cups cooked
The rice needs to be a day old or more – this helps it dry out. Moist rice will clump and not absorb as much flavour. If you make steamed rice and there are leftovers, stick it in the fridge in case you might want to make SFR.
The oil – judge quantity yourself
I won’t use vegetable oil – ever; it’s poison. Ghee works beautifully. I’ve used tallow before which is fine but ghee is better. Tallow will solidify when cool which isn’t always a problem but some people don’t like it. The mouthfeel is a bit different too as it’s approaching room temperature
The spring onion – around 3 to 7
You’ll see recipes where people put in the sliced spring onions at the start in the oil, or very early in the cooking procedure. This is not a good idea in my opinion. I like to add the onions (sliced green and white parts, as you prefer) right at the end a minute or so before turning off the heat. This introduces a bright green colour and a fresher flavour to the dish overall. If the onions are well cooked, the dish won’t fail but the taste won’t be as pleasant. The onions should be heated sufficiently (but not too much) so they don’t have crunch, which wouldn’t be good in fried rice.
Eggs – 6 to 8
Beat the eggs, add some salt, pepper if you want, or a pinch of Sichuan pepper. Salt alone is just fine too. You can add a sprinkle of sliced spring onions if you want.
The blasphemy – about a cup, diced
Carrots. Yeah, carrots. They are not traditional but if handled with care makes the dish much better. Don’t knock it until you try it. Small-diced carrot is added to the oil at the start and allowed to sweeten a little. They end up soft, not crunchy, and give a nice colour to the dish.
The meat – about 1 or two cups
My favourite meat to use is duck, but I also use ham, roast port, or no meat. Sometimes I’ll add a bit of bacon.
We like to order a full roast duck to eat as is and usually have leftovers. The next day, I’ll pick at the small muscles left in the carcass and get quite a bit out. These bits are usually well-spiced and flavourful.
If you use ham or bacon, be careful to use less as the smokey flavour will overpower the dish. Go easy.
Soy Sauce
This is not usually needed at all. I add it sometimes when I feel like it. About a couple of tablespoons – it will darken the dish overall.
Salt
Taste as you go. Learn the impact of temperature on your judgement of saltiness flavour.
Procedure
Use a proper stir-fry burner. The burners installed in kitchens are never powerful enough. I have a dedicated stirfry burner on a table outside connected to a portable gas tank. The flame can be scary, like a jet engine if I so choose.
Use a Wok. It’ll season on its own – just don’t wash it with soap. When you’re done, heat it, add a little water and wipe with a tissue or kitchen paper. No need to make it sterile.
Add about a quarter of a cup of ghee to the wok. Let it get hot. Pour it just the right amount of egg, probably about 1/3 of the total. If you get the heat right and the volume of cold egg going in right, it’ll puff up nicely and cook sufficiently in about 20 seconds (flipped once). Then scoop it out onto a plate for later. Then more ghee and more egg till it’s all finished.
Then add some ghee, and cook the carrots for a minute. Then add meat, and cook a bit more. Then add the rice. If you’ve got a good amount of oil, it’ll stir-frie nicely all together. As you go, break up any clumps with the back of the stir-fry paddle. After a few minutes, I add soy sauce (or not) and adjust for salt. Then I’ll dump in the egg and continue to stir fry. I intentionally break up the egg into pieces as I stir-fry with the paddle.
Then I’ll adjust for salt again, and with less than a minute to go, I’ll add the spring onion.
Pour into a large serving dish.
Wash your wok quickly while it’s still hot.