How to cook restaurant-like Chinese fried rice

The secret to making good Chinese food is to 2 things.

1. A wok

2. Very little oil, that has been heated to very high temperature.

However, if you don’t cook Chinese food too often at home, you can use a big kadhai or pan for cooking. The cooking vessel has to be very hot when you throw in the vegetables/noodles/rice and it should be big enough to allow you to toss them easily. A small pan may cause you to spill the ingredients or over cook them. The veggies should retain some crunchiness and the rice/noodles should be separate, not clumped together.

Makes: 6 cups

Serves: 3

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• ¾ cup uncooked rice
• 150g silken tofu or 6 eggs [can skip]
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• ½ cup carrots, julienned
• ½ cup French beans, julienned
• ½ cup cabbage, julienned
• ½ cup fresh corn [from cob] or sweet corn kernels
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1½ tbsp readymade red chilli sauce
• 1 tsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp vinegar
• Salt as per taste
• 1½ tbsp oil

Preparation method

1. Cook the rice in boiling water. Cook till about 80% cooked. Drain and cool.
2. If using eggs, hard-boil them, remove the shells, slice each into half, and scoop out. The yolks are not to be used in this recipe. Chop the egg whites into tiny cubes.
3. If using tofu, cut into tiny cubes.
4. Pressure-cook the corn for 5 – 6 whistles. Drain and set aside.
5. Heat oil and sauté garlic. Add onions; sauté for 1 minute.
6. Add French beans and salt; sauté for 2 minutes.
7. Add carrots; sauté for another 2 minutes.
8. Add cabbage; sauté for 2 minutes.
9. Add corn and tofu/eggs.
10. Mix the salt, soya sauce and chilli sauce in a bowl and pour it over the rice. Mix it gently and toss the rice in the pan. Cook it for a few minutes.
11. Then turn off the flame and add the vinegar. Cover and let it stay for a few minutes before serving.