Egg Fried Rice

Egg Fried Rice

(dan chao fan) This dish is typical of what is served in Taiwan, though many variations exist.



Unlike white rice which is always served in individual bowls, fried rice with its many ingredients, is considered almost a complete meal and is served on a communal plate. Most Taiwanese though, prefer to eat it with a soup and at least one vegetable dish.



Ingredients
5 cups cooked white rice
2 eggs, beaten
4 stalks spring onion (scallions), cut into 1 cm (3/8") lengths
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
1 tablespoon oil
4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
150 g (5 oz) lean pork, julienned
2 cups cabbage, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup carrot, finely sliced
1/3 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoons soy sauce

Method

1. Break the rice into individual grains with your hands and put aside.
2. Beat eggs. Add 1/4 of the spring onions, the salt and pepper. Mix well. Heat a frying pan to a medium heat and smear with oil. Make an omelette. Slice into small pieces and set aside.
3. Heat the rest of the oil in wok at a very low heat. Add garlic and fry for a minute until oil is fully garlic-flavoured - do not brown the garlic. Remove garlic but leave as much oil in the wok as possible.
4. Bring wok to full heat. Add pork, stirring rapidly for 30 seconds. One by one add the cabbage, carrots, and spring onions while stirring. Add the stock and the soy sauce. Return the garlic to the wok. Cook vegetables for no more than a few minutes.
5. Add rice and stir everything together for a few minutes until rice is hot. If the rice starts to stick to the wok, reduce heat. Add the omelette and cook for a minute more before serving on a plate.

Notes
The trick with fried rice is ending up with a dish that is neither to dry or too soggy. You should not use freshly cooked rice as it is too gooey to make good fried rice. Use leftover rice, or at a minimum, let just-cooked rice cool in the pot for an hour without the lid. You can stir it to speed up the cooling/drying process. Then stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours, again without the lid. If your leftover rice has been in the fridge for a few days, it will be pretty dry and you might want to add a little more water to the stock. Conversely, same-day cooked rice might need a bit less stock.