Cycle 13 – Item 245
7 (Wed) September 2022
Fried Rice
3.0
by me
at home
-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
with the Family
To my original list of 6 key elements in making fried rice (see 12.229 Fried Rice), I’ve added a 7th element:
- Jasmine rice. Fragrant perfume + fluffy texture.
- Cold rice. In the absence of steam, the kernels don’t stick, making them easier to toss.
- Super high heat. The heat singes the rice and imparts the smokiness of wok hei.
- Wok. The round bottom and high sides facilitate stir-frying, which allows more air into the process.
- Scallions. Provide garlicky aroma, while exuding little moisture.
- Salt. Intensifies the natural flavors of the rice and scallions, as well as scrambled eggs and other components – as opposed to soy sauce or oyster sauce, which can overwhelm the flavor profile and make everything kinda wet and mushy.
- Peas. No particular reason – not even an essential ingredient – just a strong personal preference.
The absence of peas this time – I only had a handful, which I included in the mabo doufu – made me realize how much I like peas in fried rice.
I also decided not to pre-coat the rice in egg yolk as last time (see 13.182 Egg Fried Rice), which worked fine but not really worth the hassle, and also I like little independent bits of scrambled egg.
(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)