Update: I've posted another, more thorough take on fried rice here.
I really, really like fried rice and none of the restaurants in State College do it right. The best fried rice I've ever had is from a place called Yen Jing in Doraville, GA. It was greasy, salty, and, most importantly, it had this amazing smoked flavor. I could never get it right, but I've finally figured out the method.
The thing is, many recipes and chefs (me included) assume that making fried rice is easy because it's often something that Chinese restaurants and home cooks do with leftover rice for a quick and easy lunch/snack. That's true, but as I learned, just because something is easy for someone who does it every day, doesn't mean you can through some shit in a wok and get gold on the first try.
I've been working on this fried rice method for several years, but I'm passing along the savings to you.
Zeroing In On the Problems of Frying Rice
In making fried rice, one of the major components is (obviously) the rice. Many fried rice recipes (like this one) will tell you to use "cold, cooked rice." What does this mean? Can I make rice, stick it in the fridge for a few hours and then make some tastiness? Not if you want it to work. I find when you use rice that is only a few hours chilled, you end up with something more akin to risotto in texture, the starch of the rice makes a paste that envelopes the individual grains and gives it the consistency of a pudding.
Recipes closer to the truth will tell you that you need to use day old rice (like this recipe). Finding this piece of information, I began putting my rice in cold storage for 24 hours. No dice: I still got fried risotto.
This series of failures got me thinking: what is the important elements of frying rice? Moreover, I stumbled upon an article that was written by John Kessler (I think, I can't find it online) that mentioned that the best vehicle for fried rice nirvana was day old rice from Chinese take-out. When I'd read this, I'd just assumed it was because people were too lazy to make there own rice. Not the case.
I started wondering if the reason Chinese take-out rice was best had to do more with the way the rice was stored than the rice itself. You see, the problem with my fried risotto was that it was too wet. I was store my overnight rice in a Ziploc container that was (reasonably airtight), while Chinese take-out rice is (presumably) stored in those little cardboard things with the wire handles. This is the dark secret to making fried rice. The key to fried rice is that the rice has to be dry.
I don't fully know the chemistry of this, but I think with dried out rice, the grains end up soaking up oil (which is how it turns a light brown) and tasting fabulous. So, the secret to all of this is to store your rice in such a way that as much rice as possible can be exposed, without covering, to the dehydrating air of a refrigerator. In fact, I've since found some evidence that many Chinese restaurants make fried rice by not fully cooking the rice and using chicken broth or some other flavor to season the rice.
Restaurant Grade Fried Rice
This is adapted from a recipe in Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking (which is an awesome cook book). I've made some changes to accommodate my taste and to clarify some confusing points in her recipe.
Ingredients:
- 4 c, cooked rice that has been dried, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight
- 4 T peanut oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 t dry sherry
- 1/4 c onion, diced
- 1-2 scallions, sliced thin
- 1 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 c cooked ham, diced
- 1/2 c cooked peas (I just thaw frozen under the tap)
Method:
- In a small bowl, thoroughly scramble eggs with sherry. Set aside.
- Break up any clumps in the rice.
- In a wok, heat oil over high heat until just before smoking (oil will shimmer, etc.)
- Add eggs, onion, and green onion to wok. Cook, breaking the egg into small pieces, until the onions or the egg start to fleck with brown (this gives the smoke flavor. Basically, cook until you see a few pieces of egg or onion that have some brown on them).
- Add rice, ham, peas, and salt to wok. Cook until heated and well-mixed, 8-10 minutes. The rice is done when the smell changes. I can't really describe this adequately, but the smell of stir frying rice (which is funky to begin with) will change. That's when the rice is done.
Notes:
- You could probably go easy on the salt.
- I've tried this with less oil (I know, it's a lot of oil), but it never seems to work right. You have to have enough to cook all the onions, the egg, and turn the rice that golden color. That said, this does make an oily rice (I'm thinking about moving towards 3 1/2 tablespoons in the recipe, as 3 is too few).
- For the love of everything Holy, don't put any soy sauce in this. The rice has a pure salt flavor and delicate smokiness that soy sauce will just bulldoze. Seriously, you'll ruin your rice.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. It turns out that the secret to good fried rice, like they make at great Chinese restaurants, is to start with slightly dry rice. I'm thinking about experimenting with drying it in the freezer to decrease start time to making the rice, so I'll report on that in the future. Enjoy!