Yangzhou Fried Rice

Ingredients

Rice

• 600 gcooked long-grain rice, cold, at least a day old

The additions

• 150 gsmall prawns
• 100 gcooked ham or char siu, diced small
• 100 gpeas
• 1carrot, diced small
• 3eggs, beaten
• 3spring onions
• 50 gbamboo shoots or mushrooms, optional

Seasoning

• 1 tbsplight soy sauce
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspwhite pepper
• 1 tspsesame oil
• 2 tbspShaoxing wine
• chicken stock, a splash

To cook

• 4 tbspoil, or lard

Equipment

• a wok, and the biggest flame you have

Directions

1. Use cold cooked long-grain rice, at least a day old and refrigerated. Fresh warm rice is moist and its starch is soft, so it clumps and turns to mush in the wok.
2. Break up any clumps with your fingers before it goes near the wok. Cook it slightly drier than usual if you are making it specially for this. Get the wok as hot as you possibly can, until it is faintly smoking.
3. Use a carbon steel wok if you have one, and cook in two batches rather than crowding it. The whole cooking takes about five minutes and there is no time to chop anything once it begins. Heat the oil and scramble the eggs quickly, then set them aside. Add a little more oil and stir-fry the prawns for a minute until just pink, then remove them.
4. Take the prawns out early. They cook in a minute and they turn rubbery if they stay in the wok for the whole dish. Add the rice and toss it constantly. Press it against the sides of the wok and keep it moving, breaking up any remaining clumps.
5. Keep it moving. Fried rice is tossed continuously so every grain touches the hot metal, and rice left to sit sticks and burns.
6. Season with soy, salt and white pepper. Use white pepper rather than black, which is the Chinese default and gives a cleaner heat. Use very little soy sauce, or none at all. Yangzhou fried rice is a pale golden dish, not a brown one.
7. Add the spring onions and sesame oil at the very end, off the heat. Add the sesame oil off the heat, since it burns and turns bitter and its aroma is volatile. Serve it immediately, in bowls. It should be light, separate and golden, with every grain distinct, and it should taste delicate rather than heavily sauced.

Technique

• Yangzhou issued an official recipe standard in 2002.
• It is a pale golden dish rather than a brown one.
• Fried rice is eaten as a dish in itself rather than as a side.

Substitutions

• Char siu or any cooked pork in place of ham.
• Any cold cooked long-grain rice.

Variations

• Golden fried rice, with the grains coated in egg yolk.
• With crab meat, which is a luxury version.
• Made vegetarian, with mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

History

Linked to Sui-dynasty official Yang Su’s egg rice; canal wealth added shrimp and ham, and the city issued an official recipe standard in 2002.

Frequently asked questions

What is Yangzhou Fried Rice?

Yangzhou Fried Rice is a main from China: wok-fried rice with shrimp, ham, egg and peas. Linked to Sui-dynasty official Yang Su’s egg rice; canal wealth added shrimp and ham, and the city issued an official recipe standard in 2002.

How long does Yangzhou Fried Rice take to make?

Yangzhou Fried Rice takes 20 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Yangzhou Fried Rice?

Yes, within limits. Char siu or any cooked pork in place of ham. Any cold cooked long-grain rice.

What is the most important thing to get right in Yangzhou Fried Rice?

Use a carbon steel wok if you have one, and cook in two batches rather than crowding it. The whole cooking takes about five minutes and there is no time to chop anything once it begins. Heat the oil and scramble the eggs quickly, then set them aside. Add a little more oil and stir-fry the prawns for a minute until just pink, then remove them.