How to make fried rice like they do at Chinese takeout?
Whats their secret?
I have a rice cooker that cooks up nice rice. But how do they get it the color/flavor they do?
Those little pieces of pork. How do I get them as yummy as they do?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
17 Comments:
I think there was an earlier thread about this but here goes... First, Here's a recipe.
Now for technique.
1. It's best to do this in a wok but any deep wide fry pan will work. You need to get the pan screaming hot and the rice must be cold.
2. Have all ingredients ready, you need to work FAST.
3. Use your steamed rice, but it's got to be cold when you start. Do not attempt to make fried rice with freshly steamed rice, it will be disastrous.
Fried Rice was actually designed to use leftover rice and in some Chinese families, it's an insult to serve it to guests. (I say bring it on! Yum.)
Have fun :D
chiff0nade at 1:08PM on 01/31/08
Thanks. I had to print that one, too. I love fried rice, and make a meal out of the leftover takeout with more veggies and shrimp, etc. Now I might, MIGHT, attempt it at home with leftover rice instead.
cucinacecilia at 1:37PM on 01/31/08
I agree, a hot pan is very important. When I make fried rice I fry each item seperately ,eggs, BBQ pork, green onions, then the rice. When the rice is hot then I season with salt ( or soy sauce, oyster sauce) after that I dump all the ingredients back into the pan for a final stir around.
I have to admit though ....my fried rice is not exactly like the restaurant. I try to tell myself that it is the wok power, you can not get restaurant wok power at home.
Sweetie at 1:40PM on 01/31/08
My fried rice secret is to use plain rice from the local Chinese takeout place. Some may say buying the rice defeats the purpose, but I wouldn't ordinarily eat the restaurant version anyway, and can exercise some quality control when I make it myself.
Ellie Kreiger has a healthy version that tastes pretty good . I increase the scallions, use frozen peas if I don't have edamame, and mix in a little sesame oil and mung bean sprouts at the end.
savecara at 2:18PM on 01/31/08
I like my own fried rice over the restaurant's. I don't bother frying each item separately (I used to though! Now whenever I'm making fried rice, it's just to get a meal on the table quickly). I get the veggies in first (usually carrots, cabbage, onion, all diced, but whatever is around), add the meat (usually Chinese sausage and chicken thigh, then when the meat is done (usually quite quickly as I cut in very small pieces), I make a well in the middle and add the eggs, scramble them in the well before mixing it in with the rest, then add the rice and seasonings (usually just soy sauce and sesame oil). I think the most important thing is just using cold, day-old rice.
mrsbao at 3:21PM on 01/31/08
For the pork, use some pork appetizers from your favorite restaurant.
On pans, if you have an electric stove, a large saute pan is better than a wok. Woks don't work well on electric stoves since they don't make good contact with the burners. To get a good hot surface to cook on, a saute pan or a flat bottomed wok is better. Some people think the same holds for gas stoves too.
kjgibson at 3:37PM on 01/31/08
how do they make those darn pork appetizers at the restaurant?
Kbear919 at 3:50PM on 01/31/08
I think it's hard to replicate at home -- it is hung up & roasted. Here's a news article & recipe about it: Char Sui.
kjgibson at 4:43PM on 01/31/08
You will never get Chinese style fried rice like from the restaurant/take-out in a domestic kitchen, unless you have a Chinese style range with a huge gas ring - as mentioned above for the "wok-power" and use ladles of oil.
My family have always been involved in cooking in Chinese restaurants earlier than the day I was born and that's how it's done. It's not the most healthiest dish in the world, in fact it's not - seeing them add so much oil makes me want to hurl. I make the "healthier" version and I love it.
PS - Sesame oil should be used right at the end to season dishes. Never ever cook with it, it burns very easily.
ssnmr77 at 7:34PM on 01/31/08
SSNMR is right - Chinese wok stations are blast furnaces. It's really tough to get that type of BTU's at home. The pipe itself that brings gas into the Chinese kitchen is larger than the residential gas pipes.
chiff0nade at 1:22PM on 02/01/08
Here's a good recipe: Lemongrass Fried Rice.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 3:20PM on 02/01/08
We've had the best fried rice using smoked pork. My husband is the grilling/smoking master at this house, so when we make pork tenderloin on the smoker, we make two - one for eating and one to dice up and put in the freezer destined for fried rice later. You can put a bbq sauce on the one for freezing if you want, but it's not neccesary - it's really the sweet smoky flavor that is great. Pork tenderloins usually come in packages of two and if they are frozen when you buy them (on sale, for example) it's no big deal to have to separate them when you get them home. You can make the fried rice with any other main protein, like chicken, seafood, etc., and just by adding even a cup of the diced smoked pork it really kicks it up.
I normally cook my eggs omelet style and chop them to add to the dish because that is the way an asian cookbook I have directs you to do. Do any of you out there add the eggs raw at the end to stir them in? That's another process used in other recipes in the book; I've just always done it the other way.
frederika at 10:21AM on 02/02/08
The real secrets to good fried rice are
1. Day or two okd, refigerated soemwhat dry rice,
2. Use thick soy sauce - less thana tsp will flavor a latge batch. Using r egular soy sauce adds to much liquid to the wok and it tends to mush the rice.
CapeCodBob at 1:44AM on 02/04/08
After many years of making fried rice, using a Malaysian wok burner, I think the main reason most fail is that the rice is not dry enough. You don't want it to take up much moisture, and you do want it to toast a tiny bit. Lay regular rice out in a sheet pan for a day and follow any of the suggestions that catch your fancy.
FredRickson at 7:40PM on 02/05/08
What's missing is the wok hay from setting the wok in an intense heat source.
Afishionado at 10:15AM on 02/12/08
I'm still improving my fried rice, but here are a few possibly obvious tips that i nonetheless had to learn and which made huge advances in my success. First 3 are repeats of others, but #4-5 were big revelations for me:
1) I agree with all the emphasis on cold, leftover rice. Even making the rice and then immediately chilling it doesn't seem to quite do the trick. Maybe if I'd let it cool off in an open container (so the steam can evaporate).
2) Wide-flat pan. I loft my electric skillet for this, but it's certainly not necessary.
3) Fry the vegs first then take them out of the pan. They risk either overcooking or steaming the rice if it's too crowded. Easier to just tip them out before adding the rice and mixing it all together at the end.
4) When you add the rice, stir briefly to coat the grains with oil, then leave it still for a moment. This allows it to get that light toasted flavor and color. When it's time to stir again, use a flat utensil and sort of hack at the rice and flip.
5) Use salt to get 66% or more of the seasoning. I always over-relied (or even exclusively relied) on soy sauce for saltiness on my first attempts, and it was terrible. When I started paying more attention I realized that the soy flavor is actually very subtle or even absent in restaurant fried rice. Use salt.
On a related note, I found an awesome recipe for homemade roast pork. I usually make a lot of it, and we have some for our meal and some for fried rice the next day. Works best with with cheaper cuts of pork (butt/shoulder, country style ribs, could use spareribs if you wanted), and it's awesome. I've even used the electric skillet with a small rack to roast the meat, and it works very well. But the recipe is designed for a conventional oven. I've paraphrased both methods below.
Source: Everyday Asian by Marie Hendricksson (a book I highly recommend).
Chinese roast pork
2 lbs. pork country style ribs or pork butt, cut into 2-in. chunks and trimmed of excess fat
1/3 c. hoisin sauce
1/3 c. rice wine (I was out and used mirin to great effect)
1/3 c. soy sauce
1 tbs. ketchup
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs. brown sugar
Combine liquid ingredients, garlic, and sugar in a bowl large enough to hold the meat; stir to mix well. Add the meat and turn the pieces to coat. Marinate in fridge 1-3 hours.
If using a conventional oven, preheat to 400 and line a cookie sheet with foil. If you have an oven-proof rack or broiling tray that will fit in the sheet, set it in or over the sheet.
If using an electric skillet, preheat to 400 and place a small rack inside the pan (foil isn't necessary if your nonstick coating is good).
Carefully remove the meat from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and place the pieces onto the rack. Place in the oven or the skillet (close the lid) and roast for 20 minutes. (When using the electric skillet, I found that there was a lot of sauce dripping onto the pan and starting to burn during the first 20 minutes. I just removed the rack with the meat and lifted off the sauce with a spatula.)
Meanwhile, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer to reduce the sauce slightly, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
After the first 20 minutes of roasting, use a brush to glaze pieces with the marinade, turning them over. Set back to roast another 15 minutes and repeat with the glaze. Return to roast another 15 minutes.
Remove the meat from the pan and set it to rest a few minutes before slicing into small pieces to serve.
Serves 4.
renzata at 11:15AM on 02/12/08
Some really nice suggestions here, I'm learning too.
I would agree, a good, hot, properly seasoned Wok
would work best.
But wouldn't MSG work better than salt?
It is not a main ingredient/flavor enhancer of Chinese cooking?
Dantor at 7:25AM on 03/30/08