Authentic Chinese Fried Rice

Redneck Epicurean's Note:

I know...you say another fried rice recipe. No matter how many recipes you come across here at Zaar, this one is the best, I assure you. What makes it the best, you ask? That it is EXACTLY down to the peas and carrots what you get at the China Buffet. It looks like it, smells like it, and best of all, tastes like it because a little old Chinese lady gave me the recipe and actually showed me in her kitchen how to do it. I will say that the amount of soy sauce, peas, carrots, and onion is to your liking, but this is my favorite way to fix it. A note about soy sauce: there are imitation soy sauces on the market. YES, that's what I said, believe it or not. Alton Brown, my fave chef, brought it to my attention on his show, GOOD EATS, and I went directly to the fridge and I had the fake stuff. I tossed it IMMEDIATELY! The real stuff is actually brewed soy beans and the fake stuff is some kinda vegetable protein and caramel color junk. The cheap stuff is usually the real stuff. Get that, or when you add heat, the cheap stuff loses it's flavor.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 cups

• 2 cups instant rice
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 cup frozen mixed peas and carrots (doesn't have to be thawed)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (sounds like a lot, but it IS 2 cups of rice!)
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons oil, divided

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring the water to a boil and then stir in rice. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, place 2 tablespoons of oil to get hot over med-high heat. Scramble egg, stir-frying the heck outta that sucker to make sure it's good and broken up. Put it into your serving bowl for holding.
3. Put the other 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet and fry the onion until almost transparent.
4. Add the peas and carrots, stir-frying those to thaw. Heat thoroughly.
5. By this time, the rice should be ready; pour it into the skillet and add the egg. Pour in the soy sauce as well.
6. With a quick hand, toss ingredients over med-high heat and stir quickly. "Fry" the rice until all the soy sauce is distributed and the color and strength is to your liking.
7. Dish this stuff up and serve it with your favorite other Chinese dishes or just do what I do and make a meal outta this stuff!

Reviews

[Chef I'll Never Tell]

It's hard to imagine an authentic Chinese recipe using instant rice. Find an Oriental market to buy soy. Look for "light soy" (not lite as in lower sodium, but light as in color). Above all, use real rice. To steam, use the fool proof method of water to rice:2:1. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer under low heat - takes about 30 minutes. Let the rice dry and cool completely before using. You'll have a much better dish that is really authentic and you won't be wasting money on instant rice. I live in the Far East for 3 years and saw this dish cooked many different ways, with and without soy.

[ColCadsMom]

This was a GREAT dish with your Evergreen's General Tso's Chicken! Simple to make, even though it seems like a lot of swapping and transferring, it really isn't. This had great flavor, very similar to the ones at our local buffets. BUT, my 2 DS won't eat the rice at the restaurants, and they LOVED this rice! I did check my soy sauce before making the dish, and luckily I had the real stuff this time (I know after reading your note that I haven't in the past) and it does MAKE the dish. Thanks for posting even though there were already fried rice recipes on the site! You will ALWAYS be remembered!

[mommyoffour]

We liked this recipe. I didn't use the instant rice, I used regular but otherwishe followed the recipe. I will continue to use this recipe. I appreciate this recipe being posted.