The Way of Cooking: FRIED RICE
(Meal for 2 persons, side dish for 4)
BASIC INGREDIENTS
4 cups (1/2 kg) cold Rice (refrigerator-cold works best – hot rice, especially medium or short grains, can come out clumped and sticky for novice cooks)
2-3 TBL (15-20 ml) Oil
½ cup (250g) Aromatics (One or all: onions, shallots, garlic)
1-2 tsp (15-30ml) Basic Seasoning
(Choose: salt AND/OR ketchup, soy sauce OR kecap manis)
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
(Meats and Veg/Fruit should total about 1½ - 2 cups together):
½ -1 tsp (7-15ml) total Additional Seasoning
(Choose one or mix: pepper, curry powder, turmeric, black or brown mustard seed, onion seed, cumin, coriander, etc.)
½-1 cup (125-250g) Meat (Chinese sausage, SPAM, hot dog, char siu pork,
beef, chicken, shrimp, etc.)
½-1 cup (125-250g) Vegetable/Fruit (mixed vegetables, peas, edamame,
pineapple, bamboo, bean sprouts, raisins, beans, kimchee, etc.)
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
egg (hard-boiled, fried, scrambled in)
green onions or chives, cilantro
Heat oil and cook any raw meat/sausage.
Add Aromatics and cook until softened and transparent.
Add cooked meats (if using), vegetables and HALF of Basic Seasonings and ALL of Additional Seasoning.
Cook together 3-5 minutes, until everything is seasoned and heated through.
Push ingredients up the sides of wok/pan, creating a space in the center of the wok.
Add a touch more oil if necessary, the other half of Basic Seasoning, then cold Rice.
Using a flat spatula, GENTLY press the rice in the center, and bring the filling ingredients over from the sides of the wok, onto the top of the rice.
Press through again, cut through and over the center of the pan, and again bring over the ingredients that have pushed up the sides of the wok.
Work all the way around the wok. The motion is similar to folding in egg whites to a cake batter.
Repeat until all ingredients are blended thoroughly and rice is heated through.
If adding scrambled egg --- as in Chinese fried rice; with heat still on, make a hole in the center of cooked rice, and add one well-scrambled egg into center. Let it set half-way then continue folding motion to incorporate egg into rice.
If adding hard-boiled egg, turn off heat and add diced egg into cooked rice and incorporate well.
For island-style breakfast fried rice, plate the cooked rice and top with sunny-side or scrambled egg.
Now to get you riffing on your own, the Fried Rice Chart has some variations to get you started. Remember the important things are to look at what you have in your well-stocked pantry, and taste as you go along. If you didn't grow up with a Japanese mother or have never been to Japan, Omu-Rice will sound pretty strange. But try it and I think you'll find it quite addictive.
