When we eat at Chinese restaurants I always order plain steamed rice. As much as I adore fried rice I find plain rice a better accompaniment to all the rich dishes that are normally ordered. So for me fried rice is usually something I make at home as I like to eat it on its own or with something very simple like white poached chicken. I’m always on the hunt for a really good fried rice recipe and this classic egg fried rice by Kylie Kwong is one of the best I’ve tried. As Kylie suggests it’s best to eat fried rice with chopsticks as it’s so delicious it would be easy to finish a large bowl of this very quickly with normal cutlery. One golden rule for good fried rice is to always use day old cooked rice. If you cook rice and use it straight away for fried rice you will just end up with a gluggy mess. Whenever I cook plain rice I always make extra to freeze, this way I can quickly defrost it whenever I feel like cooking fried rice. Talking about leftovers I sometimes turn this recipe into pork fried rice by replacing the bacon with leftover roast pork which I dice up and freeze – tastes delicious and a great way to use up leftovers.
Ingredients – Serves 4 as a side dish Adapted from Kylie Kwong
Peanut oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 thick-cut slices of bacon, sliced 1/2 inch pieces – I sometimes replace this with diced leftover pork. You can also leave it out if you want it to be vegetarian
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups cooked white rice, chilled or at room temperature – it’s crucial for the rice to be at least a day old. Fresh rice will just turn gluggy.
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
5 spring onions, thinly sliced
Optional – ½ teaspooon Maggie Seasoning – available from most supermarkets in the Asian section or where they keep stock cubes. This magic seasoning imparts a great authentic taste to stir fries and fried rice.
Method
In a large wok or fry pan, heat 4 tablespoons of the peanut oil until very hot. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and pour into the wok. Scramble the eggs over high heat until just cooked through, about 1 minute. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Add the bacon (or the pork if you are using it) to the wok and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to the plate with the eggs. Heat the 3 more tablespoons of peanut oil in the wok. Add the garlic and ginger and cook over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add the onion and cook until golden.
Stir in the rice wine and sugar and cook until the rice wine is reduced by half. Add the rice, oyster sauce, soy sauce, Maggie seasoning if using, sesame oil, reserved eggs, bacon and all but 2 tablespoons of the scallions. Season with salt and stir-fry until the rice is hot, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the remaining scallions and serve.
Mustard With Mutton 