View Single Post
  #9 (permalink)   Report Post  
Arsenio Oloroso
 
Posts: n/a
Default what is the secret ingredient for chinese fried rice?

This subject has come up a number of times in the past on AFA. I've come
to the conclusion that the answer to the question of how to reproduce
"restaurant" fried rice is impossible to answer. The reason: the
recipe for "proper" fried rice differs widely according to locality,
restaurant and who's doing the cooking.

As a youngster, I myself got accustomed to the way fried rice was cooked
at a couple of restaurants on the West Side of Chicago. I was
"imprinted."

But in other neighborhoods and other cities I've traveled to, I found
that the restaurant fried rice I had didn't taste quite the same. And
yet, I think people who've regularly eaten at these restaurants fully
believe that the dish served there is totally authentic.

Having once embarked on the quest to find THE recipe, I asked around and
posted the question on AFA. The answers I got ranged, IMO, from the
plausible to the absurd. But those who responded to me were convinced
that their suggestions were absolutely on target. They were imprinted
too--in their own ways.

But having incorporated some of these suggestions and experimented in
cooking the dish a number of ways, I now believe that I won't be able to
re-capture the exact taste of my childhood fried rice. There are too
many variables in the equation--the wok, the proportion of seasonings,
the ingredients blah blah.

So, I've developed my own recipe. It's close (maybe it'll get closer)
but not exactly the same as the dish I remember.


Apart from asking the chef at your favorite restaurant how he/she
prepares fried rice, I can only think that the only solution is to
develop an increasingly sensitive palate and to get better at guessing
what the ingredients are. What you may end up with is something perhaps
more sophisticzated than what's served up in your local Chinese takeout
restaurat.

For what it's worth, here's something I recently learned from an AFA
poster about cooking fried rice: Use thick soy sauce (available at ASian
grocery stores) instead of the widely available thin soy sauce. This
seems to coat the rice better and doesn't cause spattering in the wok
during cooking.

I don't know if this is the secret ingredient. I'm just suggesting it as
a point of further research.

OLY







June Moore wrote:
> Anyone know the ingredient for the very unique taste/aroma for the
> chinese fried rice that you eat at the chinese restaurant?
> I've tried the sesamie oil but it does not taste like it.