Rice is the staple food of more than half of the world’s population – incredibly, more than 3.5 billion people depend on rice for more than 20% of their daily calories. The Chinese have never liked to waste food, so they came up with this ingenious way to use up any leftover rice from previous meals. It has become more popular, especially in the western world, than its older sibling, steamed rice.
1 tbsp groundnut oil
550g (1lb 4oz) cold steamed rice
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp sesame oil
Suggested additions:
prawns (shrimp) and king prawns (tiger shrimp)
shredded chicken
chopped onion
chopped (bell) peppers
pineapple chunks
peas
sweetcorn and baby corn
bamboo shoots
water chestnuts
Heat the groundnut oil in a non-stick wok until hot, then add the rice and cook for 2 minutes. Remember, this is fried rice, so your wok needs to be hot, hot, hot and you should be able to hear the rice sizzling as you cook.
Add the salt, soy sauce and oyster sauce and keep stir-frying until the rice is completely heated through. Check the seasoning and add a little more salt if required. Create a well in the centre of the rice and pour in the beaten egg. Cook until the egg is set and then mix it through the rice. Turn off the heat, drizzle over the sesame oil and serve hot.
This recipe can easily be upgraded to Wok ‘U’ Like Fried Rice by the simple addition of as many or as few ingredients as you prefer; simply add any raw vegetables and meat to the heated groundnut oil, stir-frying until the veg has softened or the meat is sealed and cooked through before continuing with the seasoning as above.
The beauty of this fried rice is that you can add whatever you have available and customise it to your taste. As well as using boiled, steamed rice, you can also use the microwaveable rice found in many supermarkets, but make sure you use ready-cooked rice that you can cook straight from the packet.