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In this article we cover some of the history of fried rice, it's background, a timeline of its evolvement, the best ways to cook it, and what gives it good nutritional value.
Fried Rice is probably one of the most versitle dishes, blending vegetables, protien with a starch, in one pan.
It can be a complete meal in itself or a great side dish.
There are endless variations of fried rice, and many names for it in other cultures. We will be focusing on the Asian
versions here. |
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What was the first record of Fried Rice?
Sui Dynasty in China (589 - 618 CE),
Was it one person that invented Fried Rice ?
It was probably a happenstance of "Group Think"
I can imagine 50 households saying "what do we do with the leftover rice....
Hey why don't I fry it up, and maybe just chop up and add in some of the leftover meat and vegetables?
I don't feel motivated to investigate much further on this.
It seems that it is no mystery that fried rice became a popular dish in Asia. In my German heritage household
we would do the same and fry up left over potatoes or Spaetzle
Was it a staple in your home growing up?
Fried Rice has been a favorite in our family since I was a young boy.
The interesting thing is that my father had a disdain for plain rice that was intense.
Almost as intense as he disliked cats.
During his senior year he made it often, adding his bit of creativity, and he also was the only person
that my sisters cat would cuddle up to.
Is Fried Rice really worth putting in your repitore of dishes?
I think it is as it has survived and evolved as a dish for at least 1500 years or so. I also see it getting better
and better, using seasonings with more depth, varieties that add creativity, and a wide array of different additions that can add good fresh nutrition, and tasy vitamins. (I think vitamins should be tasty!)
What makes the best Fried Rice?
I am fascinated as a chef as to what makes really good fried rice. It seems so simple and yet lots of fried rice meals I have made leave me less than happy.
I put in all that effort and am left wanting and puzzled as to what didn't I do right?
Recently I did a batch and it was so big I did in two pans. This is where I found out that the pan you use makes a huge difference.
what you want is for the rice to brown a bit, creating a nutty sweet flavor, and opens up the grains so it can absord some of the flavors from the meat and vegetables you add.
I had a thick bottom laminated copper bottom with stainless steel, and a cast iron skillet,
The cast iron skillet was the clear winner!
September 20 is National Fried Rice Day
This has been celebrated since 2018 when Benihana worked with The National Calendar Day and created September 20 as "National Fried Rice Day".
They kicked it off with an event to try and break the Guiness World Record of Marathon Coooking.
2 of their top chefs set up a grill and cooked fried rice and donated the meals to the public and those in need, for over 42 hours. More here
Tips for a great Fried Rice
1. Use a long grain rice, like Jasmine, Basmatti or even a Converted Rice like Uncle Bens. Although many recipes use Sushi rice.
2. Use a good carbon steel wok, cast iron skillet, or something that retains it's heat well. In most thin skillets you put the chilled rice in, it cools down the pan and it's hard for it to recover brown the rice and vegetables well.
3. Don't put too much in at once if your doing a large batch. Do it in small batches filling up less than half the pan or use two pans. You can keep them in a warm serving dish in the oven and blend the batches.
4. No need to add too much oil. Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. When you finish it you can add a bit of toasted sesame oil, and even a few dashes of rice vinegar to give it some zing.
5. The most popular vegetables to use with it are onions, carrots and peas. You can add also add celery,bell peppers or spicy peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy or other greens, if you want.
6. The most popular meats to use are ham, Chinese BBQ pork or bacon.
So What is the best way to Cook Fried Rice?
You can make a real simple version of fried rice
The simplist version of fried rice is to just to put 1/4 cup oil in a skillet and bring it up to a medium high temperature. then add half a pan full of chilled rice and stir fry it for a minute or 2 until you can smell and see it browning a bit. Then add just a little bit of an Asian seasoning. like soy sauce, hoison or oyster sauce. Add a tablespoon at a time, a little goes a long way.
Add so more seasoning.
If you want to add some more levels of flavor, add some garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes.
For vegetables, it seems the most common choice are onions, (green, white or both), peans, carrots, celery.
Is Fried Rice good for you?
The general concensus that I read about is that rice is an excellent food to eat regularly.
3.5 billion people rely on rice as the basic food of their diet, and their cultures have done this
for thousands of years.
However It depends of course on what you put into it and what rice you use.
Brown rice is the healthier choice, but white rice is not all bad,
Brown Rice is;
High in Fiber which is good for your heart, and battling cholesteral.
Full of vitamins;
Dietary Fiber
Manganese
Magnesium
Niacin
Phosphorys
B1 and B6
It is a "Full Feel" food which curbs your hunger and a complex carbo that will give you long term energy.
This is a topic in itself however so I recommend this article by the Cleveland Clinic website; Brown Rice Vs White Rice
When did Fried Rice become popular in the Western World ?
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