Yangzhou Fried Rice
This is our one of our favorite fried rice recipes of all time. Adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop’s wonderful cookbook Every Grain of Rice, it’s delightful to make, and models great technique.
Don’t worry if you don’t have every ingredient called for here. Dunlop writes: “The key is to have a tempting selection of colors and tastes amid the rice.” She also says there’s no need to be precise about amounts: “Just aim to have a small pile (about 3 tablespoons when chopped) of each.”
Serves 2 to 6, depending on whether (and how many) other dishes are served.
Ingredients
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk (extra yolk optional)
5 tablespoons cooking oil
1 ounce (27 g) raw pork fillet (tenderloin), cut into small dice
1 ounce (27 g) small peeled shrimp, fresh or frozen, cooked or uncooked
1 ounce (27 g) ham, cut into small dice
1 ounce (27 g) cold, cooked chicken, cut into small dice
2 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, then drained (stalks discared) and cut into small dice
1 ounce (27 g) fresh or frozen peas, peeled fava beans or cooked green soy beans (edamame)
1 ounce (27 g) bamboo shoots, cut into small dice (optional)
Ground white pepper
2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
3/4 cup (200 ml) chicken stock
3 cups (600 g) cooked, cooled jasmine rice (1 1/2 cups/300 g when raw)
3 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced
Instructions
1. Beat the egg with salt and pepper to taste (adding the extra yolk if you wish to give the cooked egg an intense yellow color). Set aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the raw pork and the shrimp and stir-fry briefly, until the pork is pale. Add the ham, chicken, mushrooms, peas or beans and bamboo shoot (if using), and continue to stir-fry for a minute or two, until everything is hot and sizzling. Add the Shaoxing wine, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt to taste, then pour into a bowl.
3. Rinse and dry the wok. Return it to the heat with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, add the beaten egg mixture and swirl around the base of the wok. When the egg is half-cooked, add all the rice and stir-fry, using your ladle, wok scoop or wooden spoon to break up any lumps.
4. When the rice is very hot and smells delicious (it will make a popping sound around the edges at this stage), add the bowlful of prepared ingredients in their stock sauce. Mix well and continue to stir-fry for another 30 seconds or so, seasoning with salt and pepper if you wish. Finally, stir in the scallions and serve.
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Yangzhou Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk (extra yolk optional)
- 5 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 ounce (27 g) raw pork fillet (tenderloin), cut into small dice
- 1 ounce (27 g) small peeled shrimp, fresh or frozen, cooked or uncooked
- 1 ounce (27 g) ham, cut into small dice
- 1 ounce (27 g) cold, cooked chicken, cut into small dice
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, then drained (stalks discared) and cut into small dice
- 1 ounce (27 g) fresh or frozen peas, peeled fava beans or cooked green soy beans (edamame)
- 1 ounce (27 g) bamboo shoots, cut into small dice (optional)
- Ground white pepper
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 3/4 cup (200 ml) chicken stock
- 3 cups (600 g) cooked, cooled jasmine rice (1 1/2 cups/300 g when raw)
- 3 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced
Instructions
- Beat the egg with salt and pepper to taste (adding the extra yolk if you wish to give the cooked egg an intense yellow color). Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the raw pork and the shrimp and stir-fry briefly, until the pork is pale. Add the ham, chicken, mushrooms, peas or beans and bamboo shoot (if using), and continue to stir-fry for a minute or two, until everything is hot and sizzling. Add the Shaoxing wine, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt to taste, then pour into a bowl.
- Rinse and dry the wok. Return it to the heat with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, add the beaten egg mixture and swirl around the base of the wok. When the egg is half-cooked, add all the rice and stir-fry, using your ladle, wok scoop or wooden spoon to break up any lumps.
- When the rice is very hot and smells delicious (it will make a popping sound around the edges at this stage), add the bowlful of prepared ingredients in their stock sauce. Mix well and continue to stir-fry for another 30 seconds or so, seasoning with salt and pepper if you wish. Finally, stir in the scallions and serve.
Recipe notes
In her headnote for the recipe in Every Grain of Rice, from which this is adapted, author Fuchsia Dunlop tell that in the city of Yangzhou, the classic recipe includes sea cucumbers and crab meat, along with the pork, ham, chicken, shrimp and egg. She omitted the sea cucumber and crab for the book. (We look forward to trying it again soon, and adding crabmeat, but we’re not quite sure if we can face — or even find — a sea cucumber!)
The original recipe calls for ham or salami. We’re sure it would also be excellent with Chinese sausage.
We did not use any bamboo shoots.
We used very small frozen cooked shrimp, and thawed frozen edamame.