Fried rice fails when the rice is fresh, the pan is timid, and the cook adds too much. Day-old jasmine rice, broken up with wet fingers, is the ingredient. Everything else is commentary.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cold cooked jasmine rice
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas or diced leftover greens
- 2 tbsp light soy, or to taste
- 1 tsp dark soy for colour (optional)
- White pepper
- 3 tbsp oil
Method
Break the rice so there are no lumps. Heat the wok until very hot. Add half the oil and scramble the eggs softly; lift out. Add the remaining oil, then the rice. Press and toss until the grains hiss and pick up toasted spots. Add peas. Return the eggs. Season with light soy, a thread of dark soy if you want colour, and white pepper. Fold in spring onions off the hardest heat so they stay green.
Notes
Bacon, lap cheong or yesterday’s roast are fine if they are already cooked; render them first and use their fat. Do not add raw chicken and hope. Do not sauce it like a stew. If you want pineapple or a house special, you are cooking a different dish — own that, and still start with cold rice.