Fried Rice Recipe and Assignment

Several of you have asked for the authentic fried rice recipe after I mentioned my fried rice tutorial with Lai Chan. She graciously typed up for me what we did together...so here it is!

1. Heat your wok for 3-5 minutes. (No wok? Use a frying pan.)
2. Add oil (peanut, corn, soy, grapeseed, palm; olive oil is not as good).
3. Add minced garlic & ginger - saute them till they are brown (but not burnt) and you get a wonderful aroma. (One thing I noted is that Lai Chan had EVERYTHING cut/chopped before she started.)
4. Add rice (day old rice...preferably long grain/basmatic/thai but not any kind of short grain/sticky rice because the less sticky the better). We made the rice the night before and it was totally cooled before frying. (One note: do it in batches if you are making it for a crowd or big family so that rice is well fried - we did 3 batches for my family.)
5. Keep stirring to coat rice with oil - may need 5-10 mins of hard work (AGREED!!! My arms were killing me!). You may need more oil if the rice sticks to wok. The fire must be strong.
6. Add salt, pepper.
7. Bring rice to lower half of wok.
8. Add oil to upper half of wok.
9. Add beaten egg to upper half of wok to cook.
10. When omelete is set/done, break up into tiny pieces and mix with rice.
11. Add soy sauce for color & flavor.
12. Add other ingredients (green onions, green peas/shrimp/ leftover turkey or chicken/kebab/sausages/hot dogs) and continue frying for another 5 minutes till all ingredients are cooked & well mixed.
13. Add sesame oil last.
14. Viola! Done. Bon Appetit. Or as we say here, "Affiyet Olsen."

What I learned I was doing wrong: My wok was not hot enough. I need longer grain rice. I always cooked the egg first instead of last. I needed to make sure each rice grain was coated with oil. I was usually chopping while frying, but needed my hands free to stir hard for most of the frying.

Now, my assignment: Make some fried rice soon and come back and comment here. How did it turn out? Any questions? I'll let Lai Chan be a guest blogger and answer our questions!

For those of you reading this who live/lived in Singapore, do any of you remember the Telok Blangah hawker center by the 'old school'? Remember that little old guy who used to make us fried rice? He got that wok and rice so hot, he never even stirred it. He just tossed it in the air over and over. He always had a towel around his neck because it was so hot! Remember that smoked flavor the fried rice had from such a well seasoned wok? Mmmm...think I know what I am making for lunch! Leave me a comment, we can reminisce. And if you are still living there, I'll try to contain my envy!