Egg fried rice

Fried rice is a popular component of Asian cuisine. It’s a staple of all Chinese restaurants in the West.  It is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok. Although Westerners usually know it to be a side dish, it can comfortably serve as dinner itself, especially after adding in a few extra vegetables, some chopped up meat or seafood.

The opinion is that egg fried rice should be made with long grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine- which is slightly stickier than most varieties.

You can also spice it up to fit your needs and match different sauce, which is leading to countless variations of fried rice. But whatever recipe you follow it’s always fragrant, tasty and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

1 cup long-grained rice

2 eggs

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

Oil & butter- for frying

1. First wash the rice carefully to remove the starch so that the grains remain separated after cooking. Boil off the rice as normal in a pot or pressure cooker. For home needs leftover rice is commonly used.
2. The golden rule of stir-frying rice successfully is to always make sure the cooked rice is absolutely cold. So if you using freshly steamed rice make sure it’s cooled beforehand to prevent the grains from sticking together while frying. Spread out the rice in a large baking tray, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C and slowly reheat cold rice to room-temperature. This process will dry it up and will give it grainy, crispy texture, so the rice won’t be too oily and sticky after frying.
4. Meanwhile beat the egg in a small mixing bowl and put aside. Heat the oil and butter in a wok or large frying pan.  Make sure that the wok is very hot when the rice hits it. When it's shimmering and almost smoking lower the heat and add the rice. Stir-fry turning the rice constantly around the pan, for about 3-4 minutes until completely heated through.
5. Pour the beaten egg mixture to the rice and stir it all together so the egg is absorbed by the rice. If you prefer, you can lightly scramble the egg first by pouring it into one side of the pan and leaving for about 10 seconds so it begins to set. Using a wooden spoon, briskly swirl around the egg to break it up and then toss around with the rice.
6. Season the rice well with soy sauce and Worcester sauce. Stir-fry for a further minute to absorb flavours and serve straight away. Enjoy!

TIPS:

• If you like your rice more crispy keep stir-frying it on a high heat until it smells good and is beginning to get nice little brown crunchy bits.
• There are countless variations of egg fried rice. Most popular is enriched with peas and spring onions, but also bean sprouts, peppers, carrots, green beans or chopped cabbage. For non vegetarian version use chopped up meat, shrimps or favourite seafood. Use vinegar to give a slightly sour taste to the rice or Chinese five-spice for sweeter twist. You can also use lemon juice
• You can also Indianise the rice to compliment your favourite curry.  Fry some ginger and garlic in hot oil before adding the rice. For spicy version add chopped green chillies, for lovely yellow colour- add turmeric- natural food colouring. You can also garnish your rice with garam masala, capsicum and fresh coriander.