Monday, July 27, 2009

The Hungry Dog's Fried Rice

After making Fire and Smoke Chicken, I had some leftover rice. There's only one thing to do with leftover rice, you know.

Now, lots of people know how to make fried rice, so I may not be enlightening anyone. But, I do make pretty good fried rice, and I can share with you a few of my tactics.

1) This is the most important one of all: you must use old rice. I'm talking about rice that has been cooked, cooled, and sat in the fridge for a minimum of one day, but preferably for a few days. Something happens to the rice. It gets hard and dry, which sounds awful, but makes for good fried rice. Trust me on this one. Never, ever use fresh rice.

2) Cook it over high heat and keep it dry. I just add a little Chinese cooking wine to soften things up once I've added the rice. You could use broth if you liked that better. Just use restraint. I think a lot of fried rice is soggy.

3) Don't rely too heavily on soy sauce for flavor. Use lots of veggies and bacon if you eat bacon, and salt and pepper. I only add a little soy sauce at the end. If you add too much, it turns the whole dish a weird tan.

4) If you're using an egg, scramble it in a separate pan and fold it into the rice at the very end.

That's it! The beauty of fried rice is that you can use whatever you have at hand. If you've been reading this blog, you know that's kind of my style. In general, I use the following things, because I pretty much always have them on hand: carrots, celery, onion, garlic, ginger, bacon, egg, frozen peas, Chinese cooking wine, and soy sauce. Oh, and make sure to fold in the peas right toward the end so they don't get mushy.

That's it!

12 comments:

  1. Looks mad good, fried rice is the bomb. I haven't made it in ages, I need to get on that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there, thanks for visiting my blog and nice to meet you. You have a very nice blog here! And the food looks really delicious too. I'll go through all of them slow...ly, he he! Have a nice day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can never resist fried rice. It's comfort food, and a great economical dish that's sooo versatile.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yum, how I want that for lunch right now!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love making fried rice with leftover jasmine rice. Yours looks awesome with all these colors. Check my shrimp version at http://www.phamfatale.com/id_87/title_Shrimp-Fried-Rice-Cantonese-Style-Fried-Rice/

    ReplyDelete
  6. my favorite thing to get when i order Chinese is fried rice—i’m pretty easy to please in that respect. i’ve never considered making my own, nor did i have any idea how to go about it. great post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love fried rice, but never make it at home... how stupid is that? Your recipe sounds easy enough and looks really delicious. I'd love a bowl for breakfast right now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bob: Yeah, get on it! ;)

    My Little Space: thank you for visiting MY little space!

    Food Gal:yes, definitely comfort food. I grew up eating a lot of homemade fried rice.

    Single Guy Ben: Hope you found some! (Not hard in the bay area)

    lulu: yours looks amazing! Thank you for stopping by.

    Grace: anyone can do it, as long as you have leftover rice to use!

    ReplyDelete
  9. foodhoe: it's easy and very forgiving. Try it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What I really enjoy about your blog is the homeyness of it all. Reading your missives is like reading a letter from an old friend. Nice writing!
    What I like about your recipes is the simplicity of them. Everything seems easy and sounds so good. Thanks loads for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gypsy Chef: My favorite blogs too are the ones that seem personal, so I really appreciate the compliment. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fried rice is one of my most favorite things to eat, looks good.

    ReplyDelete