Karen Barnaby: Fried rice an easy family favourite
Credit to Author: Tracey Tufnail| Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2020 19:00:30 +0000
A friend of mine returned from teaching in Beijing and asked me if I was an egg first, or an egg last person.
I immediately knew that he was referring to cooking fried rice. I told him that I started as an egg first person, but had switched to being an egg last person.
The history I have with fried rice is long and filled with failures and triumphs. My family would venture to the Marco Polo restaurant a few times a year and we rarely strayed from almond chicken guy ding, sweet and sour pork, a vegetable chow mein, egg rolls, and fried rice. The rice was brown from soy sauce and deliciously salty.
My mother would occasionally cook what I’ll term as Chinese-inspired food and serve it with Dainty Rice Chinese-Style rice in a can. I could barely contain my excitement when the red and white box appeared because I was allowed to make it. The rice was vacuum-sealed and made a satisfying hiss when pierced by the can opener. Inside the can, there were firm little grains of rice. They were transformed into delicious plump grains after being heated in a frying pan with the seasoning packet, oil, and water. It was a miracle.
In my teens, my peers also had a fascination with fried rice. While other teens were drinking and getting high on Friday night, we were at each other’s homes, trying to crack the code. We used converted rice, or instant rice, because that’s what was in our parent’s kitchen cupboards.
The converted rice was usually undercooked, overcooked, or burned, and the instant rice only resembled rice in appearance. Add to that big glugs of Western soy sauce and you have a brown, salty mess. We didn’t care, we thought we were culinary geniuses.
Across from my high school, Ming’s restaurant was mobbed at lunch and after school with obnoxious teens, yelling out orders for french fries, fried rice and toast. One late afternoon, I was sitting in view of the kitchen and saw Mrs. Ming take a large container out of the fridge filled with beautifully separate grains of rice that were dyed brown by soy sauce and dotted with flecks of green onion. Mr. Ming tossed a scoop into his smoking wok and in seconds, a beautiful dish of fried rice was in front of me. Cook rice, coat it with soy sauce, refrigerate. That was the secret. I could now rest in peace.
My Thai mentor Vanipha shook me out of my Canadian-Chinese fried rice daze. I watched her fry garlic in oil until it was golden brown then scramble in an egg. She added cooked rice and fried it until it was glistening with oil. Fish sauce, a drop of oyster sauce, a liberal amount of black pepper, green onions, and finely diced seeded tomato were the crowning touch. This was my second coming of fried rice.
My current favourites are the pristinely white Chinese-style fried rice seasoned only with salt, and it’s opposite, kimchee fried rice. New favourites are yet to be discovered and while I’m waiting, I’ll get a package of Dainty Rice to see if it lives up to my memory.
If you want to add cooked, leftover meats, fry them in the oil before anything else is added. It is important to use cold, cooked rice that has been refrigerated for 24-72 hours. Break up the clumps by wetting your hands and squeezing them to separate the rice into grains.
3 Tbsp (45 mL) neutral flavoured vegetable oil
4 cups (1 L) cold, cooked rice
salt
3 eggs, beaten
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Heat a large, heavy frying pan on high heat until smoking. Add the oil, swirl it around the pan then add the rice. Spread out and toss the rice with a spatula until heated through. Season with salt, I usually start with 1/4 tsp (1 mL).
Make a well in the rice and add the eggs, stir rapidly until the eggs are half done then incorporate the rice. When the egg is evenly distributed stir in the green onion and serve immediately.
Note: If you want to be an egg first person, scramble the egg in the pan first and when it’s half cooked, add the rice. My favourite egg last method is drizzling the egg over the rice and stirring until it is cooked on to the grains.
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
The results are excellent with this dish and there is no stovetop to clean.
4 Tbsp (60 mL) neutral flavoured vegetable oil, divided
1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 lb (250 g) fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps thinly sliced
6 cups (1.5 L) coarsely chopped curly kale leaves
pinch of salt
4 cups (1 L) cold cooked brown rice
3 Tbsp (45 mL) soy sauce
3 green onions thinly sliced
1 tsp (5 mL) sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds
Heat the oven to 500 F (260 C). 500 F is not a typo. Place an 11 x 17-inch (28 x 43 cm) rimmed sheet pan in the oven while it’s heating.
Place 3 Tbsp (45 mL) of the oil in a large bowl. Add the ginger, garlic, mushrooms, kale and a large pinch of salt. Toss to coat with the oil. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spread the mixture evenly on it. Bake for 5 minutes. The kale will be brown and crispy in spots. Stir and redistribute the mixture. Bake for 3 minutes longer.
Add the rice to the vegetable mixture and drizzle with the remaining oil and soy sauce. Stir until well mixed and spread out evenly. Bake for 5 minutes, the rice should be hot and tender. Stir in the green onion and sesame oil. Garnish with the sesame seeds.
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com