Chinese fried rice is a dish that is prepared with rice and chopped vegetables seasoned with Chinese flavorings. Fried rice can be vegetarian as well as prepared with meats. Chinese fried rice can be an ideal dish to include leftover meats and rice.
Fried rice has many variations and Chinese fried rice recipes are the most popular of all of them. Each variation has its own ingredients and styles of cooking. In Chinese cooking itself, there are several variations including egg fried rice, chicken fried rice and vegetable fried rice.
Chinese fried rice is also popular as a street food in most of the cuisines including American-Chinese cuisine. Various Chinese restaurants in America, UK and India serve fried rice as their Chinese specialty.
History and Origin of Chinese Fried Rice Recipes
Chinese fried rice is quite an ancient dish that has been introduced as a way to utilize leftover food stuffs. It is said to be a dish that was originated in Sui dynasty in 589- 618 AD. Being the native of Yangzhou city, this fried rice is often known as Yangchow fried rice. South china is famous for making Chinese fried rice, as rice is the main grain in that part of the country.
Ingredients Prescribed by Chinese Fried Rice Recipes
The main ingredient for cooking Chinese fried rice is indeed the rice. Rice is typically steamed or boiled before making this dish. It is recommended to use older rice that are much dry than the fresh cooked rice. 2-3 days old rice is an excellent choice. Quality of rice is also a major factor in making perfect Chinese fried rice. Basmati rice or scented rice can be ideally used.
Other ingredients include flavored oil preferably garlic flavored oil. Vegetables such as chopped beans, spring onions, peas, celery and cabbage are the main components. Among the meats; pork, chicken and even beef are quite popular. Seafood is also a good ingredient to be added to make variations in fried rice. Seasonings are of course the main part of the recipe. Salt, pepper, soy sauce, vinegar and often oyster sauce is added to give extra tang and flavor to the dish.
Methods of Preparation of Chinese Fried Rice Recipes
Chinese fried rice is considered a comfort food that is essentially prepared in a wok. The rice is prepared with stir-frying method. Typically steamed or boiled rice are stir-fried with the other ingredients. These questions often arise that rice should be stir-fried alone or with other ingredients. When to add the seasonings? The perfect cooking of fried rice calls for separate cooking of all ingredients. It may be a tedious task to remove each ingredient from the wok and add another, but this is the actual process of making Chinese fried rice. Vegetables can be stir-fried separately, then meat may be browned and in the end all ingredients can be mixed with rice and seasonings. Seasonings should be added in very less quantity while stir-frying. The quantity may be increased according to the taste.
Serving and Eating of Chinese Fried Rice Recipes
Garnishing of Chinese fried rice is quite important while serving. The dish can be topped with shallots, celery or carrots cut into various shapes with some inclusions. This rice dish can either be served as a side dish or as a main dish. In evening Chinese meals, this dish is a great substitute of plain rice. Chinese bouquets serve rice as a conclusive dish after main meal, just before the desserts.
Nutritional Facts Related to Chinese Fried Rice
Chinese fried rice is comfort dish and quite nutritive as well. It contains rice that has its own nutritional value. Meats and vegetables are also highly beneficial. However, some of the ingredients such as sodium glutamate or synthetic vinegar might be harmful for the health but they may be used in moderation and can be fully evicted from the Chinese fried rice.
