Wok Wednesdays | Yangchow Fried Rice

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge

by Grace Young

This is my new favorite. Unbelievably simple, healthy, and delicious! 

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Shrimp

Bowl 2: Rice, peas

Bowl 3: Ham, scallions

Bowl 4: Salt, white pepper

I was skeptical while making this stir-fry - with no seasonings other than salt and white pepper - and as hard as it was, I did refrain from adding that little bit of garlic, and soy sauce that is typical of fried rice recipes. 

This took me by surprise - it really was full of flavor - no other seasonings are needed, and the white pepper added the perfect amount of heat. No wonder in China, Yangchow fried rice is prized for its clean and fresh flavors (perfect description btw). I have said before, simple can be best, and it rings true with this recipe.

This was so simple to prepare: the shrimp is stir-fried in a small amount of oil just until it turns color, add a little more oil, and the rice and peas, stir until heated through, throw in the ham, scallions, and seasonings, mix all together, and it's done. A most delicious meal in mere minutes.

This also would be utterly delicious made Catonese style, with Chinese barbecued pork in place of the ham. 

Do give this recipe a try; you'll be missing out if you don't.

We as a group do not post the recipes on our blogs, but lucky for you, the recipe is published on Fine Cooking's website, and of course, you can always find it on page 259 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, by Grace Young.

WW: Chinese Cuban Fried Rice

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

This one was  l o v e d  by all!

Andy & I had it as a side to our grilled chicken, and thought it was delicious! Yes, there was even some leftover. Unbelievable, but one must pace themselves.

Our daughter was coming over the next morning for breakfast, some shopping, and an afternoon bike ride. We had a fun, fun, day! My plan was to send the leftovers home for her and her boyfriend. However, after a bike ride, we are usually pretty hungry. I mentioned she could have some of the rice. Well, she liked it so much, and the fact she was famished, she ate it all in one sitting. Sorry, Jake - she did ask for the recipe. :)

My sister, who recently bought a wok and SFTSE, made this as well (with regular soy sauce), and thought it was fabulous! Her son, whom is a somewhat finicky, OK, is a finicky eater, enjoyed it as well.

For fried rice, you need to plan a little bit ahead. The secret to successful fried rice is using day old cold rice; also, when you make your rice, you want to rinse it (before cooking) until the water runs clear (three to four rinses) to remove the starch.

If you are like me, and want to make this on the spot, and do not have any leftover rice in the refrigerator, you can do as I did. I made my rice, spread the cooked rice out onto a rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment (makes it easy to pick up and funnel it into a bowl), and placed it in the freezer for about ten minutes. I then placed it in a bowl, and into the fridge until I was ready to start my stir-fry. Worked like a charm!

 You want to fluff the rice after cooling, using a fork, to separate the grains of rice.

While I was waiting for my husband to get home to start cooking, I placed the bean sprouts and shrimp in the refrigerator until needed. I did not realize until I tossed them into the wok, that the shrimp had released a lot of water (they were partially frozen). So-not-good for stir-frying! I removed the wok from the flame, and as quick as I could, took a large wad of paper towels, and using tongs to hold the towels, soaked up the liquid. This seemed to do the trick - all was well in the end.

You can't get much simpler than this recipe; just a few ingredients, with minimum of prep, and maybe, five minutes cook-time. 

Mise in place.

Bowl 1: Onion

Bowl 2: Bean sprouts, bay shrimp

Bowl 3: Cold rice

Bowl 4: Dark soy sauce

Bowl 5: Scallions

Bowl 6: Salt

Amazing that so few ingredients, can taste so good.

It was a good meal..

We are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 264 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

 

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!

WW: Chinese Indian Vegetarian Fried Rice

Wok Wednesdays wokking thru Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

This is one of the easiest stir-fries so far that we have made. It uses few ingredients which means short prep time and easy cleanup. It takes even less time if you use leftover rice.

It is known (after reading SFTTSE) that for great fried rice, you use day-old, cold rice so your finished dish does not come out gummy and clumped together. However, this recipe goes against that advice. It uses fresh, hot, basmati rice (I made it ahead and used cold). Basmati rice is drier and less sticky than your typical long-grained rice, so it can be used immediately.

This is not your typical fried rice, at least not what I am used to having. It has no pork (hence vegetarian in the title), peas, or egg. The recipe calls for green onion, carrot, and green beans. I also added some edamame for protein since I was serving this as our main meal and not as a side dish. You toss the rice and vegetables with a mixture of soy sauce, ketchup and chili garlic sauce - this adds a bit of a punch.

At first bite, I thought - eh, it's OK. However this grew on me before I finished the bowl and it is actually quite tasty.  Hubby said a couple of times while he was chowing down, "this has some heat to it" and it does. He was also very proud of himself for finishing the whole bowl using chopsticks - something he has been trying hard to accomplish. Good job hon!

Really, the only Indian influence in this dish is the basmati rice and maybe the heat level.

Next time, and I will make fried rice again for it is one of Andy's favorite Chinese dishes - I will not use the edamame or the green beans. I did not care for them - I'll add peas and maybe even some egg.

Success meter (1-3): 3

The reason behind the poor quality photos above, aside from the fact that it is raining here in our first few days of summer - which equates to poor lighting - is my camera stopped working due to lens failure. Had to use Andy's phone camera. This happened three months ago on a hike, I've been lucky it lasted this long!

One of the rules of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 265 in Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

 

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like to join us or just want more information, click here or visit us on Facebook.

WW: Chinese Jamaican Jerk Chicken Fried Rice

Wok Wednesdays cooking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young




I have never had fried rice quite like this. The chicken replaced the pork and there was no egg whatsoever. The chicken was marinated in a Jamaican jerk sauce for several hours and roasted. The drippings from the chicken were added to the stir-fry which gave it wonderful flavor ~ and added fat ~ but don't skip this ~ we must all indulge once in a while.

Success meter (1-3): 3

Too lazy to go to the upscale market,

I went to our local chain grocery and

bought chicken thighs in place of

whole chicken legs.

Look at this wonderful jerk sauce!

The recipe called for dark soy sauce in addition to

regular soy sauce. I was unable to find the dark soy

sauce at any of the supermarkets or the Asian market.

Dark soy sauce is aged longer than regular. It is

sweeter and thicker. So I thought to add brown sugar

to the regular soy sauce; only to find that is one of

the ingredients in the recipe. So I opted to add

an extra tabelspoon of regular soy sauce and

call it day. I did check Amazon.com  and they

do have the dark soy sauce, but the shipping

is more than the product by one and a

half times. Forget that!

mmm... good.

I used brown rice, for that is what I had on hand.

The hubby said he would have liked this better

if it was made with the white rice.

You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage readers to go and purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line.

Make sure to visit my co-wokkers to see their results on this stir-fry.

Look for the LYL link on the Wok Wednesdays page.