Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Recipe: Homemade Fried Rice

As you know, I’m Chinese so it would make sense for me to stay close to home and talk about Chinese food. All I can say is that Chinese people and most Asians are obsessed with.. Yep you've got it.. RICE! Well let’s just say we aren’t obsessed, but it IS one of our main staple foods, which is why eating rice everyday is considered normal. For me, because I was born in the UK and grew up here, I always got sick of eating rice when I was younger and would try and get away with eating anything BUT rice. However, since exceeding my teen years I’ve developed an enthusiasm for rice again, after being on a hiatus with the stuff, I kind of miss it.. A lot! Even some days when I haven’t eaten rice for a few days, I really crave it.. Must be the Asian genes, right?



Many of you may be thinking that rice is boring.. But there are many variations of rice and an endless number of recipes for rice dishes. I mean we all have days where we just wanna eat some plain rice and that’s ok, but remember that rice can be transformed into the most fabulous tasting dish. Here’s some rice dish inspiration for you.. 

Recently, I’ve been cooking a lot of fried rice with a variation of ingredients and thought I would share my homemade fried rice recipe with you all. The great thing about fried rice is that many of the ingredients you need will already be your kitchen or fridge, all you need to know is what to do with them. So no need to make that trip out to your local takeaway or supermarket to buy fried rice, but you can easily cook it at home. However, it would help if you owned a rice cooker… Rice turns out so much better, trust me on that one!

More importantly, Fried rice can be catered to your own tastes.. So you don’t need to add in meat or certain veggies, just include the ingredients you enjoy eating or what others like. 

Serves 4 portions

All you need is
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A Rice Cooker
2 Cups of Rice
Water (We’ll get to the amount in a second)
2 Eggs
1 Spring Onion
Meat (optional, cooked beforehand) 
Veggies (personal preference)

Light Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper
Pan
Wooden Spoon

❶ First off, measure out 2 cups of rice and place them in the pot which the rice cooks in.



❷ Wash the rice using cold tap water, fill the pot with water enough to cover the top of the rice. (To wash the rice you want to just massage it in your hands by rubbing the rice together, which releases the starch leaving the water slightly cloudy). 
Wash the rice a few times, I usually wash it 3 times.




❸ Now for the water, there is no measuring jug needed..  All you need is your trusty finger. Using your finger as the guide, fill the pot with water so that it meets the water meets the line of your finger. (Yep, it works.. Don’t worry!)
  

❹ Place the pot into the rice cooker & press the cook button. Simple.



❺ Prepare your fried rice ingredients while waiting for the rice to cook. Beating the eggs, chopping the spring onions, meat or other veggies and gathering the seasoning and sauces.





❻ Once the rice is cooked (the cook button indication light should turn off and the keep warm button should turn on), keep the rice inside the cooker for a further 3-5 minutes before turning the cooker off or unplugging it.




❼ Heat the pan (medium/high), drizzle oil then pour the beaten egg into the pan. (You don’t want an omelette but like a scrambled egg consistency, so mix the egg in the pan be careful not to over cook it.) Then add your meat to the pan incorporating it with the egg mixture.


❽ Add the meat and veggies, stirring constantly, then also tip in the rice at this point. To prevent burning, be sure to thoroughly mix all ingredients together. 
(Don’t worry if the rice is clumpy or sticky right now.. 
Keep mixing and stirring so that the rice can cook further in the pan.) 

I used Pork chops in this recipe, as there were left overs in the fridge from the night before.

❾ After it has been cooking in the pan for at least 3-4 minutes, season the dish with salt & pepper and add 1 tsp of Light Soy Sauce and 1 tsp of Dark Soy Sauce.
 (Add more if you would like a stronger flavour, go for the Light Soy. Dark Soy is usually just used for Colour.) 
Sprinkle in the spring onions.



❿ Keep stirring for another minute or so, then you’re ready to serve.




Why don’t you try it for yourself, Go ahead.. You gotta start somewhere, right?

Wendy

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