FRIED RICE ~ Chinese Style

It's been almost two years since I first stepped in. The two Gigantic Horses were gracing us as we entered the Chinese Bistro. Oh Yeah! It's P.F. Chang's that I am talking about. :) We were in Mehico city (Mexico) and frantically searching for a restaurant that would offer us some veg options. That's how we stumbled into this.  Wow! "My first Chinese food tasting and falling in love with it (until then I have had only the Indo-Chinese version), my first Mojito ;) and of course the most delicious fortune cookie" Too many good old memories. This was our only saviour during our entire mexico stint.       (Oh! thats one hell of a experience we had there and definitely calls for an entire different post.)  From then on, whenever we go outings my first search would be for a P.F. Chang's location. :) :) 

One of my favourite Chinese dish is this light and aromatic Fried Rice. A perfect dish to be made with leftover rice. It just takes around 10 minutes to make this delicious rice. It is so versatile that it allows for a wide variation for substituting veggies and meat.  Just a few nuances to be followed and restaurant style Chinese one pot meal is on your way home! 

1. First of all its the rice. Leftover rice gives a nice chewy tender texture to the whole dish. It makes a significant difference in the dish, nevertheless the taste is not compromised even by the freshly prepared rice. Cook the rice in such a way that it is neither grain separate (as we do for Briyani / Pulav) nor very sticky. Then fluff it up with a fork and refrigerate it for sometime. Then add the cold rice which will give a perfect texture to the dish. 
2. Next is the degree of flame / heat. It is always recommended to be kept above medium-high and do not over crowd the pan. The veggies are not suppose to get steam cooked and spoil the entire dish. The crunchy-crispy veggies really highlights the dish. These crunchy vegetables are the ones that I really appreciate in this dish. It should be cooked and also be crunchy and not smashed. Make sure you chop the veggies of equal size as possible. Keep adding vegetables in the order that the one with more cook time be added first to the wok. So that all veggies will be cooked to perfect. Also add the salt in the end. This prevents the veggies from becoming soggy. 
3. Almost the entire web recommends the use of a "Wok". I think a Kadai might be a good substitute for a wok. But I prepared this using a stainless steel heavy bottomed sauté pan. I have not used a Wok, so I am not sure if that is one of the major contributing factor for a perfect fried rice. But I can very well assure you the ones not prepared in the wok definitely tastes really good, if you properly season it. :) :) 

This post is a part of Blogging Marathon, under the theme "Carrot, Peas and Cabbage". Check out the recipes done by other marathon runners here. 

Pictorial description of the Instructions:

FRIED RICE Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time Time: 10 mins Ingredients 1 Cup Rice 1 Tbsp Butter 1 Medium sized Onion, sliced 4-5 cloves Garlic, minced 1 Tbsp Grated ginger 1 Cup loosely packed Julienne Carrot 1 Cup loosely packed Shredded Cabbage 1/4 cup Frozen peas 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce 2 Tbsp Chilli Sauce 1 Tbsp White Pepper 3 Stems Spring Onions, chopped Instructions One day old cold rice is the best to use. But do not panic if you don't have any left over rice. Cook the rice before you could start cooking the veggies.  Then cover and put it in the refrigerator while you prep the other things.  Heat the Wok/Pan over high heat. Once the pan is heated, add butter and then onions, garlic,whites of the spring onions and ginger and stir them for less than a minute.  Then add the carrots, stir them for a minute  and  then add the cabbage and stir again for a minute. The entire duration keep the flame on high than you would normally do for your other dish. The veggies should be cooked 70% and should be crunchy. Over cooked or smashed veggies literally spoil the dish.  Then add the cooked rice. Before you could add the cooked rice, fluff it up nicely so that there are no lumps. Along with it add the soy sauce, chilli sauce, white pepper and green scallions. Check for seasoning and serve warm.  Note Any kind of veggies can be used. Since my theme is "cabbage, carrot and peas" I have restricted only to those three veggies.  The colour of the rice depends on the soy sauce used. I have used less sodium light soy sauce which gives it a orange colour. If you want a darker colour, use dark soy sauce.  Soy sauce has sodium content, hence be careful while adding salt.  Spring onions / Scallions are the essential seasoning ingredient for this rice. So try to get some before you could make the fried rice.  You can use oil instead of butter. I have added butter for an additional flavour.