Fried Rice Recipes!

[TexLaw]

I've never made fried rice, but it just so happens that I was listening to a recent episode of Milk Street Radio where J. Kenzi Lopez-Alt was talking about fried rice. I'm pretty sure anything in that interview airway has been said here, there may be more nuggets. It's probably worth checking out Serious Eats on the subject, too.

 

[Atlantic59]

...But mostly a "use up yesterday's rice" dish rather than using up a whole whack of other leftovers.

I take a different view of fried rice from most of the others here, in that I prefer a much more minimalist approach rather than "everything and the kitchen sink" ingredient list...

...You will note an absence of most ingredients listed by others. This is a rice dish, to be eaten to enjoy the rice. IF you are looking for this to be a "sauce, meat, and veggie delivery system" ... just skip the rice and make a franken-chop-suey instead...

Do NOT think of it as a meal ... think of it as that part of the meal that is the rice. ..

Pretty dogmatic, there, Doc. This dish may have started somewhere in southern China, when Mom was too tired to cook anything else and they had leftovers to use up, but there is a version of fried rice practically everywhere nowadays. There are probably hundreds of variations on the theme. Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Filipino, Nigerian, etc. Are they all wrong? What about people that like a lot of vegetables, are they all wrong?

In some parts of China, they used noodles instead of rice because that's what was available. Very similar idea, though.

 

[Doc4]

Pretty dogmatic, there, Doc

Just the way I like it.

 

[Esox]

The Indian red chili powder (extra hot) - needs homeopathic quantities to be edible - teaspoon size.

I remember the package said hot, thats all I remember. It was like eating lava. I dont like, need or want a lot of heat but the right amount of heat with the right depth of flavours has always been my goal and I usually do pretty well. The whole concept of cooking rice is new to me so I need to learn.

my basic recipe starts with bacon. Add rice and some green onions. Save most onions for the very end. You want that fresh flavor. Cook rice like hash browns until you get some crispy bits and it’s drying out. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs. Let the eggs set up half way. Then stir to coat the rice. Continue to stir until mixture has dried and egg coats all the grains of rice. Add soy sauce to taste and stir. serve and add remaining green onions.

That I can do. I cook hash browns and rosemary/parmesan home fries all the time. Thats gold, thanks.

1. in whatever fry pan or wok you are using, fry some diced onion and garlic in oil. Or bacon fat, if you can get it. Or lard.
2. when the onion and garlic is close to done, add the rice in big globs. Press it down and let it crust up a bit then move it around and break it up. Keep it moving.
3. add a small amount of soy sauce. Just a dash or two. err on the side of caution ... you can't take it back out if you put in too much. If you noticeably darken the whole batch of rice, you added way too much.
4. when it's almost done, crack an egg in there and scramble it up in the pan with the rice.
5. When the egg is cooked, it's done. Serve.

Bacon and bacon fat I can do, almost always. Searing the rice I can surely do, I just wasnt sure I should. Keep it simple, I can try to do lol. I can cook, this is just new and I hate wasting food by making mistakes.

Yep. Keep making it and keep making it a bit better than last time.

I'll be cooking another cup today and leaving it in the fridge overnight for tomorrow. I learned to cook plain white rice on my second try and I suspect thats the hardest part, without a rice cooker anyway.

No ... the crunchy bits are the best.

They always are yeah. I should have followed my gut and didnt. Oh well. I will say, it is damn good cold the next day so I must have done something right haha.

In some parts of China, they used noodles instead of rice because that's what was available. Very similar idea, though.

Thats something I picked up watching both of the entire Anthony Bourdain TV shows. He liked to eat the local food, street food, and I think he was in Vietnam and there was one "go to" street food place. That woman was using her grandmothers wok and it had never been washed and may not have even been left to cool lol. They showed her entire process but all portions of ingredients were already prepared, naturally, and depending what you ordered depended on what she threw in the wok. The part I remember most vividly though is that wok was hot. Smoking hot. Everything that went in it was flash fried almost instantly and the entire dish never cooked for more than a minute or two, at the most. Oil first, then after maybe 10 seconds, she started adding the ingredients one at a time with a quick toss after each handful went in. 10 seconds after the last bit went in, she dumped the entire wok into a container and served it.

The problem I have with that is my pan. Its non stick aluminum so it cools fast when I add things quickly. I started thinking about a cast iron wok last night and I'll keep my eyes open for one. 60% or more of what I cook is a stir fry something or other so it would be a good investment but I'll need to do some homework on them. Theres a Russel/Hendrix restaurant supply store a 5 minute walk from me and they show two.

The stainless one at the top is more what I have in mind but I'm used to cooking with cast iron.

I may start a whole different thread. But I have a small collection of woks. My most recent is from Japan and it’s hand-hammered and made by Yamada. This one is 36cm which may be a little large, but rarely do people wish for a smaller wok.

If you do start a thread, drop a link for it here in this thread if you dont mind. I'll be quite interested in it.

 

[Esox]

Good advice. Personally, I would not add any liquid to my fried rice with the exception of a splash of soy at the end. You want nice light rice. Even though it is a stir fry, you don’t want gummy, you want each grain to be separate.

Yep, thats where I messed it up. Combined with too long a cook at too low a heat.

 

[Atlantic59]

...The problem I have with that is my pan. Its non stick aluminum so it cools fast when I add things quickly. I started thinking about a cast iron wok last night and I'll keep my eyes open for one. 60% or more of what I cook is a stir fry something or other so it would be a good investment but I'll need to do some homework on them. Theres a Russel/Hendrix restaurant supply store a 5 minute walk from me and they show two.

The stainless one at the top is more what I have in mind but I'm used to cooking with cast iron...

Probably the best material for a wok is thin carbon steel. It is seasoned a lot like cast iron. It is best to have a round bottom. Woks don't have to be very expensive. The better ones have a slightly rough finish, like a hammered finish, that lets you move food from the bottom of the pan to the sides where it will stay put and not slide back down to the bottom. Resist the urge for an extra large wok. They take up a lot of space. 13-14" is a good size for home.

It's difficult to do proper stir-frying on a electric stove. For one, the wok has a round bottom, so does not fit well on a burner that is flat. Second, you need to be able to add a lot of heat fast, so the pan does not cool down when new ingredients are added. The early woks were made to fit directly in the top of a wood or charcoal stove, so the heat was concentrated at the bottom. Modern Chinese restaurants use gigantic gas burners.

 

[Esox]

Probably the best material for a wok is thin carbon steel. It is seasoned a lot like cast iron. It is best to have a round bottom. Woks don't have to be very expensive. The better ones have a slightly rough finish, like a hammered finish, that lets you move food from the bottom of the pan to the sides where it will stay put and not slide back down to the bottom. Resist the urge for an extra large wok. They take up a lot of space. 13-14" is a good size for home.

It's difficult to do proper stir-frying on a electric stove. For one, the wok has a round bottom, so does not fit well on a burner that is flat. Second, you need to be able to add a lot of heat fast, so the pan does not cool down when new ingredients are added. The early woks were made to fit directly in the top of a wood or charcoal stove, so the heat was concentrated at the bottom. Modern Chinese restaurants use gigantic gas burners.

I've not cooked with carbon steel much but thin would transfer heat faster, I get that. The tip about rough sides I'll keep in mind, I hadnt thought about it.

I'm on a gas stove so heat isnt a problem but it does have flat burner grates, noted. Keeping the pan hot can be a problem with the pan I have. Even when doing hashbrowns if I flip the lot to sear both sides evenly, the cold side cools the pan off and I can end up burning them to avoid making them mushy but I've learned to live with it for doing hashbrowns. Its not ideal but it works well enough and I like mine crispy anyway. Rice I think may need a bit more precision than I can get from that pan but we'll see. I wont be running out to buy a $150 wok but I'll know The One when I see it.

Even the last 12" cast iron pan I bought has a hot spot in it I need to work around and because of that hot spot, I burn oils if I dont shuffle things around enough. Thats pretty aggravating, truth be told, and I'd likely replace it if a wok wasnt a better fit.

 

[Atlantic59]

I'm on a gas stove so heat isnt a problem but it does have flat burner grates, noted. ..

You're in good shape with gas. You can get an adapter ring that would replace the flat grate. Sometimes they come with the wok.

 

[Blackgrass]

Here is a link to The Wok Shop of San Francisco. I have this wok in the flat bottom and really like it.

Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Hollow Metal Handle, Made-USA – The Wok Shop

www.wokshop.com

I also have this one:

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I prefer the first one. While the “side helper” handle sometimes is handy, I like to season the wok in the oven. You have to wrap the wooden handle with a wet cloth and aluminum foil to protect it. Also, I like to store my wok in the oven at times. Whenever I preheat the oven I just leave the wok in the whole time...also do this when heating up stuff for the kiddo. I think of it as free seasoning. Every time you heat up and cool off your wok you are building seasoning.

One note on woks and heat. I highly suggest you get a flat bottom wok for a western kitchen. I have mostly flat bottom woks and one really nice round bottom. I also have a outdoor wok burner station. I can use both the flat bottom and round on my burner. I could probably melt the bottom on my wok if I left it on my work burner too long, I think Im getting 70,000BTU. However, I have cooked in a wok a long time and while the extra heat is nice, it is also something that can get out of hand very quickly. I think most kitchen ranges can get your work hot enough to turn out a great stir fry. You may have to cook in smaller batches and combine foods...but that isn’t a big deal.

Let me know if you get a wok and need assistance with the seasoning. I can’t recommend a carbon steel wok high enough. I wouldn’t waste money on anything else. In fact, anything else is pretty much a frying pan.

A couple of books:
This one is pretty good. I really like the tools and ingredients sections of the book. It has some great drawings and takes you from basic broth to banquet style dishes. My copy is 20-25 years old. I rarely reference it anymore, but it is a great place to start.

Grace Chan:
Her books are really good.

Cookbooks - Grace Young

Chinese cooking, Chinese recipes, Chinese stir fry, wok, stir frying, stir fries, Grace Young, wok cooking, wok recipes, Chinese cooking equipment

www.graceyoung.com

Your local library: Mine had several good books on Asian cooking. Looking at photos and really help with picking out recipes and determining “if this looks right”.

Youtube:
I went down a rabbit hole hole of thai street vendor food. So much to learn just watching each little nuance and how each vendor prepares food. I have watched a bunch of Pad Thai and no one does it the same. Just as fried rice...there is a channel Sue and Gambino (I think). I have followed a couple of his stir fry recipes with success.

Finally: Have everything ready to cook before you start. No last minute chopping or cracking of eggs. Next thing you know you will be making hot chili oil!

 

[Blackgrass]

 

[Blackgrass]

 

[Blackgrass]

 

[Avi]

Probably the best material for a wok is thin carbon steel. It is seasoned a lot like cast iron. It is best to have a round bottom. Woks don't have to be very expensive. The better ones have a slightly rough finish, like a hammered finish, that lets you move food from the bottom of the pan to the sides where it will stay put and not slide back down to the bottom. Resist the urge for an extra large wok. They take up a lot of space. 13-14" is a good size for home.

It's difficult to do proper stir-frying on a electric stove. For one, the wok has a round bottom, so does not fit well on a burner that is flat. Second, you need to be able to add a lot of heat fast, so the pan does not cool down when new ingredients are added. The early woks were made to fit directly in the top of a wood or charcoal stove, so the heat was concentrated at the bottom. Modern Chinese restaurants use gigantic gas burners.

The unintuitive nuance of this that almost works is the cast iron wok + another fry pan. People balk at this because you can't "toss etc" w/ cast iron that people are used to. You have to not use it as a classical rapid temperature change wok but rather a massive heat source wok and if you wait ~10-15 minutes the entire surface will get hot w/out the massive temperature drop endemic to regular pans/standard stoves when you toss stuff in. The issue with that is you can't "toss" (so just "toss" w/ a utensil ) nor can you expect to drop the temperature and expect the wok to drop in temp. The fix for that is a standby pan for part 2. If you heat a bit less long you can take advantage of the temperature gradient that a lot of asian cooking seems to enjoy taking advantage of (e.g. cook at the bottom then move to the edges to make room for the next set of ingredients).

The real fix for this for all of us w/out gas hook ups is induction (which we just switched to) - which is absurdly good at rapid heat transfer and w/ the light conductive pan/wok does the rapid changes incredibly well so you no longer need a second pan.

 

[Esox]

You can get an adapter ring that would replace the flat grate. Sometimes they come with the wok.

Ahhh, would that be the base on this type?

That didnt even occur to me.

Here is a link to The Wok Shop of San Francisco. I have this wok in the flat bottom and really like it.

Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Hollow Metal Handle, Made-USA – The Wok Shop

www.wokshop.com

I also have this one:

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I prefer the first one. While the “side helper” handle sometimes is handy, I like to season the wok in the oven. You have to wrap the wooden handle with a wet cloth and aluminum foil to protect it. Also, I like to store my wok in the oven at times. Whenever I preheat the oven I just leave the wok in the whole time...also do this when heating up stuff for the kiddo. I think of it as free seasoning. Every time you heat up and cool off your wok you are building seasoning.

One note on woks and heat. I highly suggest you get a flat bottom wok for a western kitchen. I have mostly flat bottom woks and one really nice round bottom. I also have a outdoor wok burner station. I can use both the flat bottom and round on my burner. I could probably melt the bottom on my wok if I left it on my work burner too long, I think Im getting 70,000BTU. However, I have cooked in a wok a long time and while the extra heat is nice, it is also something that can get out of hand very quickly. I think most kitchen ranges can get your work hot enough to turn out a great stir fry. You may have to cook in smaller batches and combine foods...but that isn’t a big deal.

Let me know if you get a wok and need assistance with the seasoning. I can’t recommend a carbon steel wok high enough. I wouldn’t waste money on anything else. In fact, anything else is pretty much a frying pan.

A couple of books:
This one is pretty good. I really like the tools and ingredients sections of the book. It has some great drawings and takes you from basic broth to banquet style dishes. My copy is 20-25 years old. I rarely reference it anymore, but it is a great place to start.

Grace Chan:
Her books are really good.

Cookbooks - Grace Young

Chinese cooking, Chinese recipes, Chinese stir fry, wok, stir frying, stir fries, Grace Young, wok cooking, wok recipes, Chinese cooking equipment

www.graceyoung.com

Your local library: Mine had several good books on Asian cooking. Looking at photos and really help with picking out recipes and determining “if this looks right”.

Youtube:
I went down a rabbit hole hole of thai street vendor food. So much to learn just watching each little nuance and how each vendor prepares food. I have watched a bunch of Pad Thai and no one does it the same. Just as fried rice...there is a channel Sue and Gambino (I think). I have followed a couple of his stir fry recipes with success.

Finally: Have everything ready to cook before you start. No last minute chopping or cracking of eggs. Next thing you know you will be making hot chili oil!

I do the same with all my pans, store them in the oven. The pan I used has a wooden handle so I'm with ya there!

Seasoning a pan I'm good with. My cast iron doesnt get washed. It gets scrubbed with a stainless steel wool pad and then onto the burner on high until dry then back in the oven.

I can’t recommend a carbon steel wok high enough. I wouldn’t waste money on anything else. In fact, anything else is pretty much a frying pan.

Heat from my larger burners is borderline, this is why I was thinking cast iron so it holds the heat better but a thinner carbon steel wok may work even better.

I understand the draw to one and was just poking around online looking for a local place that might sell a simple, plain jane, uncoated 14" carbon steel wok. I didnt find many listed in local stores, but they have to be around somewhere. WalMart had one listed for $20, with a lid, but no local stock in store. I may check some second hand places. I'll find one...

"Have everything ready before you start." I learned that yesterday when I almost forgot the eggs and peas.

Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Hollow Metal Handle, Made-USA | The Wok Shop - https://www.wokshop.com/newstore/product/carbon-steel-pow-wok-hollow-metal-handle/

The base, yep I get it now. $35 for a flat bottom 14" without a ring isnt bad. Is the bottom flat section of yours the same thickness as the sides?

 

[Blackgrass]

Yes, it is the same thickness.

Cast iron woks...I have a bunch of cast iron stuff and yes, even a lodge cast iron wok. I would give it to you if you were close. I would not recommend it. Yes, it can get and hold heat like crazy. I can vaporize oil in it if you leave it on the heat long enough. High heat is good, but so is rapid cooling and being able to move the pan away from the flame to make adjustments to heat. Move the pan and don’t touch the knob!

If you have a local Asian mart you may find a wok locally. Although I have noticed a quality difference among the woks available. The one from the Wok shop is nice heavier gauge carbon steel. It is not has heavy as the Yamada wok I have, but that is probably as much Japanese made vs. Chinese.

 

[Blackgrass]

Also, you will read or hear about something called Wok Hei (Breath of the Wok) that you only get with high heat cooking. My experience is that you need a dedicated wok burner to achieve.

 

[Esox]

Yes, it is the same thickness.

Cast iron woks...I have a bunch of cast iron stuff and yes, even a lodge cast iron wok. I would give it to you if you were close. I would not recommend it. Yes, it can get and hold heat like crazy. I can vaporize oil in it if you leave it on the heat long enough. High heat is good, but so is rapid cooling and being able to move the pan away from the flame to make adjustments to heat. Move the pan and don’t touch the knob!

If you have a local Asian mart you may find a wok locally. Although I have noticed a quality difference among the woks available. The one from the Wok shop is nice heavier gauge carbon steel. It is not has heavy as the Yamada wok I have, but that is probably as much Japanese made vs. Chinese.

I only use cast iron for bacon and pork chops, but I would love a nice large cast Dutch Oven for roasts and hams. I'd have one if I cooked roasts and hams more often.

Got ham?

Hickory smoked, maple glazed ham with parsnips, carrots and taters. Almost as good as todays shave lol.

A 2lb Moose loin. The prep is in the post above it.

The finished product.

I should have skipped the cocktail onions but they sure made the gravy tangy. Makers Mark was closer so thats what I used, a couple glugs from the bottle.

The meat is so tender I can barely pick it up. Even with a spatula it just falls apart. So there it is, Makers Mark Moose!

A Chinese grocery store, yes! The friend that was over yesterday said she bought her rice cooker at one. I'll be on that this week.

 

[Blackgrass]

Wok size: I have 10”, 12”, 14” and 16” woks. I use the 14” 99% of the time.
Rarely will you wish you had a smaller wok. The larger wok will allow it to hold heat better and you will not be as tempted to overload the pan.

Lid: you probably have one in your kitchen that will work. You rarely use one anyway.

Finally, the wok is such a good tool that you will find yourself using it all the time. I stir fry and sauté veggies in mine all the time.
Anyho...I can geek out on woks as much as anything. Given the variation in woks, I would still probably order from the Wok shop to make sure I got a decent gauge steel. Some of the ones I have seen are pretty flimsy. This one I posted with the metal handle is really good...about 1/4 the price of the Japanese Yamada wok. I looked long and hard to find one with the metal handle and was really please when she added those to her shop.

This is a cool article on the Cen Brothers wok (sadly no longer made from my understanding...maybe the last handmade woks?) I think I misspelled Cen as Chen earlier. They are really works of art and patina beautifully.

Disappearing Woks — School of Home

As some of you might now I lead an online cooking group called Wok Wednesdays. You can learn more about the group in a previous post , but one of the many gifts I've received from this group (both physical and experiential) has been learning about the Cen brothers and owning one of their handmade w

www.schoolofhome.com

Great video...so sad to think these are no longer available.

 

[Esox]

Wok size: I have 10”, 12”, 14” and 16” woks. I use the 14” 99% of the time.
Rarely will you wish you had a smaller wok. The larger wok will allow it to hold heat better and you will not be as tempted to overload the pan.

Lid: you probably have one in your kitchen that will work. You rarely use one anyway.

Finally, the wok is such a good tool that you will find yourself using it all the time. I stir fry and sauté veggies in mine all the time.
Anyho...I can geek out on woks as much as anything. Given the variation in woks, I would still probably order from the Wok shop to make sure I got a decent gauge steel. Some of the ones I have seen are pretty flimsy. This one I posted with the metal handle is really good...about 1/4 the price of the Japanese Yamada wok. I looked long and hard to find one with the metal handle and was really please when she added those to her shop.

This is a cool article on the Cen Brothers wok (sadly no longer made from my understanding...maybe the last handmade woks?) I think I misspelled Cen as Chen earlier. They are really works of art and patina beautifully.

Disappearing Woks — School of Home

As some of you might now I lead an online cooking group called Wok Wednesdays. You can learn more about the group in a previous post , but one of the many gifts I've received from this group (both physical and experiential) has been learning about the Cen brothers and owning one of their handmade w

www.schoolofhome.com

Great video...so sad to think these are no longer available.

I think a 14" is plenty big enough and doubt I would ever wish for a bigger one. A smaller one though, maybe. 14g is thinner than I expected but likely a sound choice for thickness. I did browse around Kijiji for my area just to have a look and there are a few listed. I noticed one that looked to be stainless but looking at the wrinkles at the top of the pic it has to be thin. 14g is 5/64". Not that thick really but it wouldnt wrinkle like that.

I have a lid for the pan I used and yeah, I rarely use it.

If I cant find a decent one locally I may just order one.

 

[Blackgrass]

Personally, that looks more Indian influenced And not the quality I think you are wanting. Some of the better mass produced works have spun type steel and you can see this in the construction of the wok. I sadly lost one of these in a breakup. Yard sales and flea markets can get a good place to find a wok. Most woks will flex a bit if you grab the opposite sides rims and tried to flex the two sides together. But, you don’t want to feel like you could actually bend it together. A couple of hands on comparisons and you will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Half the fun of this is actually using a nice wok. Yes, you can use a couple of pans or a typical fry pans and turn out a great stir fry. You can also get a pretty decent shave from a disposable.