KosherEye.com
Adapted from Remaining Kosher, Volume One
by Lauren Stacy Berdy
Here is the secret behind delicious fried rice: you need a little moxie, the pluck to get a pan really hot, and further valor to stand by while some rice grains get scorched. Your frying pan will take the ride of its life, but in the end you get dragon smoke rice and, honestly, that's the taste we all adore.
The Chinese restaurant tackles this easily. I duplicate it here.
The ingredients are all at the supermarket. They just need to get primed and at arms-length for the journey. You will need a heavy bottomed frying pan. Cast iron is the best. Refrigerated pre-cooked rice is a necessity.
The cold separates the grains, allowing them to cook individually inside the heated pan. Use something like plain old Uncle Ben's long grained rice. Not parboiled, not basmati, not instant.
Abandon your nature to care too much about deserted food particles. Yes, a few rice grains might remain; some egg matter might stick. The truth is it doesn't matter. A word about oil: you will use some here- not the most calorie conscious route to take. The rice needs the oil to pan fry. The oil drives the contact in fried rice, and the contact is the flavor you know and like.
I know this type of cooking is not the road normally traveled. Yet, once you get the knack, it will become a public highway. Just don't use the brakes and let the daredevil in you arise.
Ingredients
½ tablespoon vegetable oil for rubbing
2 large eggs, beaten) + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil + ½ teaspoon sesame oil
+ 1 teaspoon kosher salt + ¼ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 two inch piece fresh ginger: peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic: peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, washed
1 large carrot, peeled
1 white onion: peeled and diced
6 cups cooked cold rice (about 2 cup raw)
1 lb. boneless skinless raw chicken breast: diced (or left-over meat or more vegetables)
+ ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
+ ½ teaspoon sesame oil
+ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
+¼ teaspoon fresh pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil + 1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ cup dark soy sauce
1 cup fresh beans sprouts: washed and dried
½ cup frozen peas
Directions
Beat eggs, toss with the vegetable and sesame oils, salt and pepper, set aside.
Chop and mince the peeled ginger and the garlic. Place in a small bowl.
Slice and then chop the celery and carrot. Place in a bowl. Dice the white onion and place in a separate bowl. Cut the chicken breast into ½" cubes. Place the chicken in a bowl, season with the vegetable and sesame oils, salt and pepper.
Measure out the soy. Have the bean sprouts and frozen peas at hand.
Finishing
Place all the primed ingredients near the cooking surface.
Place another large bowl near as well, then grab a metal meat spatula.
Oil the heavy frying pan with a paper towel. This helps prime the pan's cooking surface. Place the pan over medium heat.
Once the surface is hot, add in the beaten egg and let it cook for 15 seconds.
The thin egg pancake might bubble. Use a metal spatula to bring the cooking egg to the center of the pan. Once the eggs are no longer runny, chop with the spatula. Slide the skillet off the heat.
Take the egg out of the hot skillet (ignore any remaining egg residue). Place the egg in its own bowl.
Over high heat, pour in the tablespoon of vegetable oil and teaspoon of sesame oil. The pan should almost be smoking.
Add in the white onion and don't stir for 20 seconds. Add the chopped garlic and ginger. Stir, let cook for 15 seconds (OK for the onions to color).
Add in the seasoned chicken (or meat or vegetables) and don't stir for 30 seconds.
Add the carrots and celery. Stir the chicken once, letting the surface color.
The chicken should become opaque after approximately 2 minutes.
Slide the pan off the burner. Use the metal spatula to remove all cooked ingredients and place in a large bowl.
Place the skillet back over high heat.
Add in the ¼ cup vegetable oil mixed with the sesame oil.
Heat the oil until the surface of the pan starts to smoke. Carefully add in all the cooked cold rice.
Pat down the rice, but don't turn it over yet: let the rice cook for at least a minute.
Use the metal spatula to begin to turn over most of the rice. Then leave alone for another minute.
Use the metal spatula as a scraper- get it down into the rice and really scrape the bottom of pan to loosen all the rice. Add in the soy sauce.
Turn the heat down to medium.
Use the spatula as a shovel: turn the rice over until most of the grains absorb the soy sauce and turn brown.
Add back into the pan all the contents of the chicken bowl. Add in the water chestnuts. Slide the pan off the burner.
Next, place a small frying pan (not Teflon) on the burner at high heat. Use a paper towel to rub with oil.
Get the pan very hot.
Add all the beans sprouts: don't touch for 15 seconds.
Use the metal spatula to add the sprouts into the pan with cooked fried rice.
Finally, let the frozen peas cook for 10 seconds in the smaller pan, then add to the fried rice pan.
Add the egg, chop with the spatula and stir the fried rice until everything is well distributed. Taste the rice for salt and pepper.
Serving
Place the Chicken Fried Rice in a serving bowl with a large serving spoon. Provide each diner an individual bowl.
This fried rice easily reheats. Place a couple tablespoons of water in the bottom of a frying pan. Add in the fried rice, heat and stir.
Serves about 4
Notes
Recipe: kosher, side dish