Introduction
Egg fried rice is cold cooked rice stir-fried very hot with egg, spring onions and a little soy sauce. It is the best use for yesterday’s rice and takes ten minutes. Add peas, leftover vegetables or tofu to make it a full meal.
Fried rice was born in Chinese home kitchens as a way to use up leftovers, and every region has its own version. The most famous is Yangzhou fried rice, from the city of the same name in Jiangsu. The one rule is to use cold, day-old rice: freshly cooked rice is too wet and turns sticky in the pan.
Ingredients
- 400 g cold cooked rice (from about 150 g raw rice, cooked the day before)
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 100 g frozen peas
- 4 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts apart
- 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- salt and white or black pepper
Tools
- A wok or a large frying pan
Preparation
- Break up the cold rice with your fingers so there are no lumps. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
- Heat half the oil in the wok over a high heat. Pour in the eggs, stir quickly until just set but still soft, and tip them onto a plate.
- Heat the rest of the oil. Add the garlic, the white parts of the spring onions and the peas, and stir-fry for one minute.
- Add the rice. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, pressing it against the hot pan and tossing, until every grain is hot and separate.
- Add the soy sauce and the egg, breaking it into pieces, and toss for one more minute.
- Turn off the heat, add the sesame oil, the green spring onions and pepper. Taste for salt and serve.