demystifying fried rice

For those of you who don't like what you pay at your neighborhood Thai restaurant, I thought I would de-mystify it for you so you can cook it at home!

Here's what you need (1 serving):
Vegetable oil-enough to cover the bottom of your skillet/wok (3T)
Meat, thinly sliced (optional), about 1/3 cup
1 Egg
1 c. day old (at least cooled) rice
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 pinch ground pepper
1 tsp. fish sauce (you can get this at Walmart last time I was in America)
1 lime
1 green onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
other vegetables you want to get rid of (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc)

Making great fried rice requires a number of tricks:
- A wok - it is the best tool for fried rice. If you don't, it can be tricky but still manageable.
- High heat - you want your pan as hot as possible. That's why it frequently tastes so much better at a restaurant.
- Dry rice - Making your rice a little drier than normal or using day-old rice keeps the rice from clumping together and turning into wok-concrete.
- Ground black or white pepper and lime - You'll be surprised how much flavor the ground pepper and lime can bring to fried rice.

When the pan is extremely hot (smoking hot), pour in the oil and follow with meat. Stir quickly. It can get real smoky. If you see that there is juice coming out from your meat and pooling on the bottom and not evaporating, your pan is not hot enough. When the meat is cooked, set it aside or just put it on the side of the pan if you can. Add the egg and scramble the egg until the egg is all cooked. Put the egg aside or just push it aside and make some room on the bottom of the wok. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce and stir. Keep stirring and mixing the rice with ingredients. Add all vegetables. Stir for 1 or 2 more minutes. Sprinkle ground pepper.

Squirt the lime juice on and dazzle all your friends. Serve with a side of a couple slices of cucumber.


Enjoy!