The first time I really understood what Chinese fried rice is, I was about 14. I was always fascinated by the fact that it had a million things in it. My best friend Kelly introduced me to some Chinese restaurant that was near our youth club so every Friday evening, we would order dinner from there and she ALWAYS had fried rice. I always had noodles but of course I picked at her food.
One day I decided to read about it (this was before google had the answers to everything) so I went to the local library and borrowed a book on Chinese cooking. I was super excited and I remember reading it with my mum so we could see what to make at home. The first thing of course was fried rice. Imagine my shock when I discovered the best rice to use is leftover rice. Being an African home, leftovers were standard so all we needed to do was buy the rest of the ingredients.
It was mad fun making the rice with my mum and after that it became a sort of thing we made with leftover rice and sure enough it also meant there were certain other things that became a staple in the pantry because of this; like soy sauce.
The great thing about the rice is that you can have a vegetarian version too!!
Serves 2
2 cups leftover cooked rice
3 chopped spring onions
1/2 cup frozen sweetcorn
1/2 cup frozen garden peas
Leftover cooked chicken or pork (I used pork)
3 eggs
Sesame oil
Dark soy sauce or mushroom soy sauce
Special equipment
Wok
So, first, please don't use sticky or mushy leftover rice. The key to having perfect fried rice is making sure your leftover rice is in single grains. You can use a fork to lightly separate the cod rice.
Now, put your wok on high heat and add about 5 tablespoons of sesame oil. It is very light and will begin to smoke almost immediately. Add your beaten egg and turn down the heat to low. Scramble the egg using a wooden spoon, then turn up to a medium heat and add the sweetcorn and peas. After a couple of minutes, add your meat and rice and still using the wooden spoon, mix it all up and let it warm through for a couple of minutes. Add one teaspoon of soy sauce and the spring onions and mix well.
That's it. Literally. You can have the rice plain or with a Chinese inspired stew.