On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:17:36 -0700, Arri London wrote:

> "J. Clarke" wrote:
>>
>> wrote:
>>> Is there anyway to make the coarse sea salt into a finer grind without
>>> using a grinder, which I don't have. I just tried making fried rice
>>> with sea salt but it does not seem to dissolve well.
>>>
>>> Thank you in advance ...
>>
>> If you want to make something finer there are many ways to do it--my Dad,
>> who learned to cook in the Pacific during WWII, used to wrap whatever it was
>> in a towel and pound on it with a hammer. A coffee grinder (the little
>> whirlygig kind) does fine as a spice grinder. A mortar and pestle will do
>> the job. Or a food processor or a blender (glass jar only--spices will do a
>> number on a plastic jar as I found out the hard way).
>>
>> That said, why would you want to make fried rice with sea salt? Soy sauce
>> is a standard component and it is generally adequately salty.
>
> The main complaint my Chinese friends have about Westerners attempting
> Chinese cooking is the *overuse* of soy sauce. Fried rice (or noodles)
> shouldn't be brown. Use a *little* soy and finish the salting with salt.
> The OP is trying to do the correct thing.
>

i've never read or heard any chinese cooks saying such a thing (using salt
to finish, not overuse of soy). a small amount of salt, usually at the
beginning of the cooking process or (rarely) in the marinade, sure.

your pal,
blake