fao FOAK: Chinky Cooling

You know how they get the egg to be all small little perfectly cooked
bits in your egg fried rice, how do they do that?


I have been trying for years to get it how they get it and the best I
have come up with is to add microwaved scrambled egg to the rice at the
end of the cooking and although this is successful it seems to me to
rather betray the whole object of the thing.

 

Heat and fast and stirring.

 

I cook the rice beforehand and let it go cold then get a frying pan really
hot and add a little oil, then fry any bits and pieces I want in the rice
like pork, prawns, pre-cooked onion, mushrooms, peas etc., then add the cold
rice. When it's really hot I part the rice in two or three places and pour a
little beaten egg directly onto the pan. Wait a few seconds for it to start
cooking then stir it into the rice. If you keep it moving it breaks up into
little pieces.

Obviously leave out the bits and pieces stage if you just want egg fried
rice.

 

Spot on. The trick is, of course, to get the pan, or preferably wok,
very, very hot[1] first, making sure there's enough oil to really get
the rice frying and hot before adding the egg. The most common mistake
is to add the egg too soon, so it coagulates onto the warm grains of
rice and just forms a soggy mess.

[1] Use a good high-temperature oil like groundnut, and get it so hot
it's just smoking.
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Ace wrote

More or less what I do but I rarely use cold rice and I don't use
Chinese rice either, I use Basmati but cooked Chinese style. I do
wonder if that makes a difference.

That's the badger.

 

I'm surprised here. You get all hot and bothered about a few guys getting a
good mullering, but no word...at all.... about the poor defenseless egg
being beaten.

 

Wot 'ee says.

Pre-cook the rice (long grain, easy cook is best) and put aside.

Prepare any things to be added (defrost peas, chop up ham/chicken etc)

Beat egg till it's very very thin and runny.

Heat oil 'til it's very very hot.

Add egg and stir in quickly - it should absorb the oil and flash fry into
little bits of omelette.

Add rice.

Stir for a while and break it up. If pre-cooked and cooled properly it will
fall into wok in one lump, once it has broken down back into separate grains
you can:

Add other bits

Cook for a few more minutes

Add a few splashes light soy and finish cooking

Serve.

Dave

 

I use Basmati too, but just plain boiled, and not for too long either.
If you steam it using the 'exact quantity' method I'd recommend using
slightly less water than usual.

Letting it go cold, open to the air so it dries a bit too, allows the
rice to coat with the oil so that it doesn't break down and release
its starch whil frying. It can be OK done from warm, as long as you've
let it drain well and left it spread out for ten-fifteen minutes. But
cold is better.

Of course, you can cheat and just drbble the egg down the side of the
wok before mixing in, but then it tends to overcook and doesn't coat
the rice as well.

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..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
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Ace () gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

All very complicated...

I just boil some rice (Basmati, of course, what else exists?), drain it,
lob it in a frying pan (the wok is otherwise engaged with the rest of the
meal) with a little oil, lob a beaten egg and plenty of Five Spice in
there, and stir it around until it's all evenly coloured. Job done, never
had any big bits of egg in there.

 

Cheating. And not as nice, IMO.

No. That's definitely cheating, but more importantly it will not give
the authentic effect. See Si's and my other post for a better way.


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..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
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It may be cheating but that's the method taught to me by the owner of a
successful Chinese restaurant in Derby a number of years ago, so if it works
for them....... etc etc etc

Dave

 

and eggs like scrotes - it's easier just to pay someone else to beat
them

 

err, fried rice in the original chinese style would have generally
been made for breakfast with left-over rice from the night before.

 

It was the 'easy-cook' bit to which I was referring.

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oh right, ISWYM. I thought you were objecting to the pre-cook bit. In
which case, I completely agree - quick/easy cook rice (and pasta for
that matter) is very much inferior to the real thing.

 

Well, of course if a restaurant does it it must be right, eh? Which
one was it anyway?

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\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
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Indeed it would. "Today's boiled rice is tomorrow's fried rice".
Hope they've cooled it properly, or that is the very best way to play
Bacillus Cereus Roulette.

 

what /is/ the recommended way to do it, from a H&S point of view?
Given that I've never got ill eating re-cooked rice, I must be
generally doing it right, but I'd welcome your opinion.

 

Take your boiled rice and spread it in a shallow tray to cool. Within
90 minutes, remove the rice to a refrigerator and keep it there
overnight. When reheating, ensure it is raised to 70 degC or above
and kept there for a couple of minutes. Consume immediately and throw
away any leftovers.

The danger lies in leaving rice hanging around at kitchen
temperatures, as the bacteria produce toxins that cannot be removed by
frying or boiling. Basic rules apply - get it hot, keep it hot, then
cool it quickly and keep it cool. Reheating is potentially fraught,
so rule one applies again - get it as hot as poss and keep it there
until ready to serve.

 

pretty much what I do - in fact, apart from in summer, I tend to put
it in a cold tray, cover it and put it outside on the window-sill for
60-90 minutes before putting it in the fridge.

no-way would I consider triple-cooking rice.

I tend to get it hot in the microwave, and then throw it into the pan
for the last couple of minutes, when the other ingredients are already
as hot as possible.