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How to make Fried Rice like a Chinese Restaurant

How to make Fried Rice like a Chinese Restaurant
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  • Post #61 - December 7th, 2020, 8:36 am
    Post #61 - December 7th, 2020, 8:36 am Post #61 - December 7th, 2020, 8:36 am
    bw77 wrote:Not like a Chinese restaurant, but backyard version for lunch today

    Winner Winner Best Fried Rice Picture Dinner!

    lougord99 wrote:What are you cooking on that contains the coals ?

    Here is a link to a similar product, maybe even the same product.
    Thai Charcoal Outdoor Stove (Tao)

    I'm a proponent of cooking over wood and natural lump charcoal for flavor enhancement.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #62 - December 7th, 2020, 11:27 am
    Post #62 - December 7th, 2020, 11:27 am Post #62 - December 7th, 2020, 11:27 am
    G Wiv wrote:
    bw77 wrote:Not like a Chinese restaurant, but backyard version for lunch today

    Winner Winner Best Fried Rice Picture Dinner!

    lougord99 wrote:What are you cooking on that contains the coals ?

    Here is a link to a similar product, maybe even the same product.
    Thai Charcoal Outdoor Stove (Tao)

    I'm a proponent of cooking over wood and natural lump charcoal for flavor enhancement.

    How much flavor enhancement gets through a carbon steel wok?
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #63 - December 7th, 2020, 11:41 am
    Post #63 - December 7th, 2020, 11:41 am Post #63 - December 7th, 2020, 11:41 am
    JoelF wrote:How much flavor enhancement gets through a carbon steel wok?

    I’ve used woks, paella pans, cast iron, carbon steel etc over live fire, Weber kettles and other live cooking. To me the flavor is different. Enhanced. Wisps of smoke. Licks of flame envelope fat. Dynamic cooking as opposed to the static environment of stove top.

    Plus it’s more fun.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #64 - December 7th, 2020, 12:25 pm
    Post #64 - December 7th, 2020, 12:25 pm Post #64 - December 7th, 2020, 12:25 pm
    Hi,

    A few years ago, Culinary Historians had a speaker who talked about the cooks who transitioned from cooking at a hearth to wood burning stove. People who experienced both, felt cooking from the hearth had a better flavor.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #65 - December 7th, 2020, 3:04 pm
    Post #65 - December 7th, 2020, 3:04 pm Post #65 - December 7th, 2020, 3:04 pm
    This is the stove I am using:

    https://importfood.com/products/thai-co ... n-thailand

    It is very similar to the stove Gary linked to, though, the top of that stove has wider openings. Not sure if that would result in less concentrated heat or if the airflow would fan the flames. I do know that the one I have been using seems very efficient and needs only a small amount of charcoal.

    Image

    Image

    The above are chicken thighs with Xinjiang style spice - lots of cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn. These really did benefit from the open flame.

    Just starting out with this stove and its quick and easy enough that I can see continuing to use it as the temps drop.

    Uncle Roger said something along the lines of - If someone is cooking for you in the outside kitchen, then you know good food is coming. If someone cooks for you just in the indoor kitchen, that means they don't like you and they want you to go away.
    "I live on good soup, not on fine words." -Moliere
  • Post #66 - December 7th, 2020, 3:15 pm
    Post #66 - December 7th, 2020, 3:15 pm Post #66 - December 7th, 2020, 3:15 pm
    G Wiv wrote:
    JoelF wrote:How much flavor enhancement gets through a carbon steel wok?

    I’ve used woks, paella pans, cast iron, carbon steel etc over live fire, Weber kettles and other live cooking. To me the flavor is different. Enhanced. Wisps of smoke. Licks of flame envelope fat. Dynamic cooking as opposed to the static environment of stove top.

    Plus it’s more fun.

    Those without live-fire cooking facilities might be interested in Kenji Lopez-Alt's recent NYT article, The Elements of Wok Hei, and How to Capture Them at Home.

    Kenji Lopez-Alt wrote:The problem is that Cantonese restaurant wok ranges, which can output 200,000 B.T.U.s per hour or more, are an order of magnitude more powerful than even the most powerful home burner. It’s that massive jet of flame that makes igniting vaporized fat possible, but I’ve found a reasonable workaround.

    If I can’t bring my food to the flame, why not bring the flame to my food? A camping-style fuel tank, along with a brazing head (such as the Iwatani Pro butane torch head or Bernzomatic TS8000 propane torch head) that I point directly at the food inside a wok for a few brief moments as I toss, can lend that vaporized oil flavor.

    Has anyone tried this yet?
  • Post #67 - December 8th, 2020, 8:10 am
    Post #67 - December 8th, 2020, 8:10 am Post #67 - December 8th, 2020, 8:10 am
    Cathy2 wrote:Scoops86,

    I appreciate your broadening my fried rice vocabulary:

    Cantonese chicken and salted fish fried rice dish

    There is an interesting link in this recipe to Chinese dried and preserved ingredients.

    What is your preferred dried fish?

    I learned a new acronym: ABC - American Born Chinese.



    Yep! I am an ABC. There are also BBC (British Born Chinese), CBC (Canadian Born Chinese), etc. It's an interesting social dynamic that I won't go into :P

    Chinese salted fish is an acquired taste and smell. I rarely cook it at home for my wife's sake and mostly have it when I visit my parents... classic dish is steamed salted fish with steamed pork belly

    In terms of brand, the following is what I grew up eating and what my grandma insisted on only buying. It's made in Tai O, Hong Kong, which is a historic fishing village known for their seafood / preserved seafood (salted fish, shrimp paste, dried oysters, etc.): [url]https://youtu.be/VTCz6zzm5bA
    [/url]

    Unfortunately, the art of preserving seafood is dying (for many diff reasons) and there are only a few places left in Tai O that makes stuff like this in the traditional way. This sells for $19/lb rn in chinatown:

    Image
  • Post #68 - December 8th, 2020, 2:20 pm
    Post #68 - December 8th, 2020, 2:20 pm Post #68 - December 8th, 2020, 2:20 pm
    All this fried rice talk made me want to whip one up for lunch. I had leftover rice and leftover homemade char-siu (bbq pork). Also good opportunity to test out the new carbon steel pan:

    Image
  • Post #69 - December 9th, 2020, 3:39 pm
    Post #69 - December 9th, 2020, 3:39 pm Post #69 - December 9th, 2020, 3:39 pm
    Looks great and shows a wok that's not overfilled. I usually put too much in the wok which leads to more steaming and less frying.
    "I live on good soup, not on fine words." -Moliere
  • Post #70 - August 28th, 2021, 10:22 pm
    Post #70 - August 28th, 2021, 10:22 pm Post #70 - August 28th, 2021, 10:22 pm
    Golden Fried Rice = Dinner

    Stir fry aromatics.
    Mix yolks with leftover rice, cook whites separately.
    This was really tasty, you'd think it'd be plain, only seasoning is a little salt/sugar. Not so, loads of flavor.

    click to enlarge
    Image
    Image

    Golden Fried Rice, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #71 - August 28th, 2021, 11:20 pm
    Post #71 - August 28th, 2021, 11:20 pm Post #71 - August 28th, 2021, 11:20 pm
    G Wiv wrote:Golden Fried Rice, count me a Fan!

    That looks fantastic -- beautiful and delicious! And I see the Salsa Espinaler in the background. How are you liking it?

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #72 - August 29th, 2021, 5:41 am
    Post #72 - August 29th, 2021, 5:41 am Post #72 - August 29th, 2021, 5:41 am
    ronnie_suburban wrote:
    G Wiv wrote:And I see the Salsa Espinaler in the background. How are you liking it?

    Only tried Salsa Espinaler out of hand. First impression, vinegary, though not overpoweringly so. Lightly spiced, cumin the first spice that came to mind. Mild heat, I can see Salsa Espinaler going wonderfully with strong flavored oily fish.

    Salsa Espinaler is sold to go with tinned fish such as sardines. I've recently become semi obsessed with sardines and various forms of fish in a can.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #73 - August 30th, 2021, 8:43 pm
    Post #73 - August 30th, 2021, 8:43 pm Post #73 - August 30th, 2021, 8:43 pm
    On a fried rice kick. Leftover chicken, bacon, peas, aromatics, veg. And, the secret ingredient, ketchup. Saw a Lucas Sin video where he used ketchup as an ingredient, said it was a Hong Kong thing. Added a light tangy sweetness. I liked it, the bride was nonplussed, to say the least.

    click to enlarge
    Image
    Image

    Fried Rice, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #74 - July 12th, 2022, 8:39 pm
    Post #74 - July 12th, 2022, 8:39 pm Post #74 - July 12th, 2022, 8:39 pm
    Hi,

    I made fried rice using slices of Slim Jim type sausage instead of Chinese sausage. I had the Chinese sausage, but I really wanted to stop looking at this bag of sausage ends sitting on the counter.

    Meanwhile, I had an email from The Woks of Life featuring fried rice. One recipe featured Chinese sausage that was cooked along with white onion. I borrowed a few ideas and cooked it along with chopped celery added toward the end. I ate the leftovers for dinner and forgot about the celery. I bit into something thinking it was a nut, but I knew there were no nuts. I then realized it was the celery.

    More odds out of my life and in my stomach.

    Regards,
    CAthy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #75 - July 21st, 2022, 4:46 pm
    Post #75 - July 21st, 2022, 4:46 pm Post #75 - July 21st, 2022, 4:46 pm
    Kenji did some research on Fried Rice and much of it is in his new book The Wok, which I ordered and is somewhere here mixed into moving boxes and chaos.

    Some of his findings can be found here
    https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/articl ... 010389.php

    First off, all of the batches of rice that were under a fan (dried and not staled) worked out well. None of the very tightly wrapped batches worked, which indicates that dryness is an essential factor for fried rice. The batches that were stored loosely wrapped for times ranging between 1 hour and around 6 hours actually became more difficult to fry properly. After that, they got easier and easier; by hour 12, they were ideal.


    by the way i have found mee mah pork fried rice to be basically perfect comfort food
  • Post #76 - December 17th, 2022, 7:21 pm
    Post #76 - December 17th, 2022, 7:21 pm Post #76 - December 17th, 2022, 7:21 pm
    Saw this video on making Fried Rice at home. Haven't tried it yet.
    The thing about quotes on the internet is you can not confirm their validity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  • Post #77 - September 2nd, 2023, 2:59 am
    Post #77 - September 2nd, 2023, 2:59 am Post #77 - September 2nd, 2023, 2:59 am
    Kimchi fried rice. Lots of veg, thumbs up from the Bride.

    click to enlarge
    Image

    Fried Rice, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow

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