I am a 75 year old new member. I have cooked by scratch all my life..but now cannot make a decent fried rice. What kind of rice is best? How to cook the same? How do the restaurants make it? Your knowledge is appreciated.:confused:

CHINESE FRIED RICE

1/4 cup salad oil
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2 cups diced cooked ham, pork, or shrimp
2 2/3 cups Minute Rice
4 eggs, scrambled in small pieces
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans (3 oz. each) sliced mushrooms
2 cups cooked peas
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Heat oil in skillet. Saute scallions, ham, and rice in oil for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs.

Bring broth, mushrooms with liquid, peas, and soy sauce to a boil. Stir into rice mixture. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to mix.

TO MAKE AHEAD:
Chop all necessary ingredients and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook. Cook, drain, and chill peas. (If you use frozen peas, cook a 1-lb. package; it may measure more than what is called for, but you can use all.) Use a flameproof casserole for cooking and serve from it at the table. Or cook the rice dish in an electric skillet right in front of your guestsl

Makes 8 servings


Chicken Fried Rice

1 tb Oil
1 Egg, slightly beaten
2 tb Oil
1 c Chicken, finely diced
1 md Onion, finely diced
1/2 c Water chestnuts, finely diced
1/2 c Bamboo shoots, finely diced
1/2 c Celery, finely diced
1 c Fresh bean sprouts
1/2 c Frozen peas (opt)
1/2 c Sliced mushrooms (opt)
4 c Cooked rice
Soya sauce
Salt
Pepper

1. Cut up and prepare all ingredients. Reserve.

2. Heat wok up with 1 tablespoon oil and fry egg into a thin sheet.
Remove to plate and reserve.

3. Add 2 tablespoons more oil to wok. Heat until smoking. Stir fry
chicken and onion together until cooked. (If leftover meat is used,
just heat through.) Add bean sprouts, peas, celery. Stir and cook 2
minutes with wok covered. Uncover wok, add all the rest of the
vegetables. Stir fry and cook covered for 2 additional minutes. Add
cooked rice, season with salt, pepper, soya sauce. Reduce heat to
medium. Take your turner and break up clumps of rice as finely as
possible. Make sure rice takes up soya sauce and does not remain
white. Keep stir-frying until all rice is broken up and heated
through. Shut heat off. Cut up sheet of egg into small pieces and
stir into rice, or remove rice to serving platter and garnish with
egg slivers.

NOTE: Leftover rice makes a better fried rice. If using leftover rice,
place rice in sieve and rinse with hot water from the tap. Pork ,
beef or shrimps (cooked or uncooked) may be substituted for above
chicken.

CHINESE FRIED RICE WITH PORK

3/4 lb. boneless pork loin
5 slices bacon
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. chopped fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onion
3 c. cold cooked rice
1/4 c. soy sauce

Partially freeze pork. Thinly slice across the grain into bite-sized strips; set aside. In large skillet or wok cook bacon until crisp. Drain bacon, reserving 3 tbsp. drippings; crumble bacon on paper toweling. Cook eggs in 1 T. hot drippings for 2 minutes or until set; remove and set aside. Add 1 T. drippings to skillet. Stir-fry half of pork till browned; remove. Stir-fry remaining pork; remove. Add remaining drippings to wok; stir-fry mushrooms and onion 1 minute or until tender. Stir in bacon, egg, pork and rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring gently. Pour soy sauce over pork-rice mixture; cook 3 minutes more or until heated through.

Chinese-Style Egg Fried Rice

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients Preparation
2/3 cup [180 mL] uncooked long grain white rice
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons [30 mL] vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup [250 mL] fresh or frozen sweet peas
1 tablespoon [15 mL] light soy sauce
Pinch of salt
Salted boiling water
Fine green onion strips, to garnish
Into a casserole, boil rice into salted boiling water for approximately 10 to 12 minutes, until almost done, yet not soft.
Well drain then cool rice under cold running water; well drain rice.
Pour beaten eggs into a frypan; scramble eggs until set, yet not dry.
Into a preheated wok or a large frypan, heat vegetable oil over high heat until really hot, leaning wok or frypan to completely cover the bottom with hot oil.
Add crushed garlic, chopped green onions and sweet peas; fry stirring from time to time, for 1 to 2 minutes.
Well mix in well-drained rice before mixing in scrambled eggs, light soy sauce and salt, being careful to evenly distribute scrambled eggs.
Evenly pour fried rice into 4 individual bowls.
Serve immediately, each serving garnished with fine green onion strips.

Fried Rice With Eggs and Country Ham

Serves 4 (main course)


Eggs and a container of leftover rice in the refrigerator mean that dinner can truly be last-minute. Salty country ham is an especially wonderful embellishment.


4 jumbo eggs at room temperature 30 minutes
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 oz country ham, chopped (1/2 cup; see cooks’ note, below)
5 cups cold cooked jasmine or long-grain brown rice, crumbled to separate grains
6 to 8 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil


Whisk together eggs, water, and salt until combined well. Heat a wok or
12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over medium-high heat until hot. Add
vegetable oil and ham and cook, tossing and separating pieces of ham, just
until ham begins to darken, about 10 seconds. Add rice and toss to coat with
oil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring frequently, until
rice is hot, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in half of egg mixture and cook, tossing,
until rice is well coated and eggs begin to cook. Make a well in rice and
add remaining egg mixture. Cook, stirring eggs often but not incorporating
rice, just until eggs are softly scrambled, then toss with rice. Stir in
scallions and sesame oil.

Cooks’ note: If you can’t find country ham, prosciutto is a good substitute.

Servings: 4