In article ,
"Capt T" wrote:

I have been trying to make a light fried rice and have been using Basmati
but having cooked it by boiling i then leave to cool and drain and when
frying with the addition of shrimp, egg etc it tends to turn to mush.
Question is is there a better rice to use. I dont like typical american long
grain as it is too heavy.
Any ideas please.

I used to make fried rice reasonably often but, more recently, I prefer
stir-fries served over cooked (brown) long-grain rice. When I do make
it, I use a special outdoor grill burner that is about 18-20,000 BTUs.

As I see it, here is the problem (and solution) with fried rice and why
so many people are unable to do it justice in the home kitchen. You
need a very powerful burner that will enable you to stir-fry such a
large volume of dense food. 15,000 BTUs is the bare minimum IMO and you
usually have to get a high end range to get that kind of output.
Average BTU output in average residential ranges these days is more like
10-11,000 BTUs IIRC.

When you are stir-frying meat, you can do smaller batches so you can
maintain the necessary degree of heat. But with fried rice, you are
usually doing a much larger amount--- and with eggs! You don't want the
rice absorbing large amounts of oil either.

If you do not have a high output burner, I recommend heating the wok in
a 500-550 degree oven for maybe 15-20 minutes to ensure that the wok has
a better chance of maintaining its heat when you put it on the burner
and add your rice. Obviously you cannot do this if your wok has a
plastic or wood handle. This technique works especially well with cast
iron woks.

It also helps to use brown rice instead of white rice because brown rice
has an outer bran layer which (1) has some oil already in it; and (2) is
less likely than white rice to absorb so much cooking oil. Only use
long grain (less glutinous) rice.

Emma