How to feed four on fried rice, Chinese style

Press, 13 May 1987, Page 16

How to feed four on fried rice, Chinese style

I usually cook rice from raw after I decide to make fried rice, but if you plan ahead you can make fried rice from left-over cooked rice. You are supposed to get better fried rice if starting with rice which has been cooked the day before, and which has had time to dry out nicely. I cook my rice for fried rice in the microwave. Put 1 cup of long grain (usually Uncle Ben) rice in a covered microwave dish, with 2 cups of hot tap water and y 2 teaspoon of salt. Cook the rice on high for 12 minutes then leave it to stand for 5 minutes before opening the oven and taking out our perfectly-cooked rice!

Without the microwave, bring the mixture to the boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan with a tight cover. Reduce the heat when the water boils, and cook over a very low heat without lifting the lid, for about 20 minutes. The benefit of the microwave method is that no rice sticks or burns if you forget about it, and the dish is very easy to wash.

Every time I make fried rice I make it dif-

Alison Hoist’s Food Facts 4 I================

ferently. The following recipe produces rice which makes a complete meal for four people — with or without a salad. 1 cup raw rice cooked as above 1-2 rashers bacon 2 onions, chopped 2 tablespoons oil 250 g raw mince OR 1-2 cups cooked meat . 3 cups vegetables, cut small 1-2 eggs . ¥2-1 teaspoon sesame oil 1-2 tablespoons light soya sauce Check the rice. You should get about 3y 2 cups of cooked rice from 1 cup of uncooked long grain rice. Select a very large pan or a large wok for the mixture. Chop the bacon into . very small pieces, and the onion finely. (Everything added to fried rice should be in small pieces — not much bigger than rice grains.) Cook the bacon and onion in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the bacon browns and the onion is tender and golden brown at the edges. Add the

mince (or' cooked meat) and toss with the bacon and onion over high heat, until the pieces of meat are separate and no longer pink. Add a little extra oil, i.f you are using lean cooked meat.

Add the vegetables. It is good to use a selection of vegetables. Add longer cooking vegetables first. I use several of the following: finely chopped mushrooms, green or red pepper, spring onions, finely sliced celery, chopped raw cabbage or spinach, cooked frozen peas, cooked corn and carrots. Toss the vegetables with the meat until they are hot and brightly coloured, then add the rice. I like to keep the heat high, and let the rice brown a little, in crusty pieces, on the. sides of the pan.

Once the rice is hot all the way through, push it aside so some of the bottom of the pan is clear, and add one or two eggs which have been lightly beaten with a dash of soy sauce. Stir as eggs set, then stir the pieces of egg through the rice mixture. Sprinkle mixture with

strongly flavoured sesame oil if you like its flavour, then add a tablespoon of soya sauce and taste to check the saltiness. Add more soya sauce until you get the saltiness that suits you. Serve as soon as possible. Serve soya sauce and/ or oyster sauce for ontable seasonings if you have them, f Variations:

You can replace the mince or cooked chicken etc with shrimps if you like, or you can add shrimps as well as meat. I like finely chopped lettuce leaves stirred into

the fried rice with the sesame oil. Chopped raw chickweed can be added at this stage too.

You can make a thin omelet or pancake from the egg before you start cooking the mixture if you like. Fold the omelet up and cut it in thin slices, then use it to decorate the cooked rice Just before serving — or leave the eggs out altogether.

You can make fried rice without a Chinese flavour if you like. Use salt and pepper instead of soya sauce, and add whatever herbs you like.