Fried Rice that is not mushy

So here it is, fried rice. Fried rice seems very easy but it is not.

The secret of fried rice is to not let it be mushy, and for that you need to keep ingredients separate, because if you add everything together in your wok it will all get mushy and one- flavored and disgusting. You want your eggs to taste like eggs, your rice to be toasted, your peas to taste like peas etc.

So here is the original recipe from the one and only Jaden from Steamy Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

-400-500 grams of leftover rice.

-2 or 3 stems of green onions.

-3-4 eggs.

-500 grams of chicken or pork. 

-200 grams of peas. 

-canola oil or sesame oil or some neutral oil.

-fish sauce.

-oyster sauce. 

Marinate of meat: 

-1 tablespoon of soysauce.

-1 teaspoon of cornstarch.

-2 tablespoons of chinese wine.

-1 tablespoon of sesame oil or canola oil.

STEPS:

1. Fist marinate the meat with the soysauce, cornstarch, chinese wine and canola oil and let it sit for an hour or even longer, or really 10 minutes. I also use oyster sauce to make it sweeter, but you want it on the sour end, the meat. Now set it apart.

2. Now  put canola oil in a wok. Now slice your green onions and fry for 2 minutes. 

3. Now beat the eggs and cook them in wok, on top of eggs. Now listen to this: leave the eggs alone. Do not start stirring them around but let it settle into a big omelette for 3 minutes and then fold and pass on to plate and set apart. You want the eggs to be slightly undone because they will finish cooking at the last moment when you add everything together.

4. Now stir fry the meat in a high fire. Put the chicken or pork and let it brow. You probably have to do it in 2 batches. If you cook all of it at once you will not fry it, you will steam it, and water will start coming out. For browning you cannot crowd meat because you it will boil instead.

5. Once it browns from one side, flip and repeat with second batch and reserve. You want to cook meat like 80% so that later it doesn't go hard.

6. Now fry rice. First you need to separate rice from the container where it has been, like break it up with your hands, like the photo. 

7. Now add some oil in the wok and make it really hot. Now add all of the rice and let it sit there for 5 minutes. Resist the temptation to move it around because otherwise you will break the rice and more starch will come out which will make it mushy. You are trying to dry rice when you are frying it. For that you need to let it sit there and actually fry it.

8. After 5 minutes toss it and let the rice get toasted on another rice. Make sure you don't burn it also. Now continue frying it until it gets toasted. 

9. Okay now time to bring everything together. First add eggs, then meat, then frozen meats. 

10. Give it all a good toss quick and let it sit for a few minutes in high fire. Give it another toss and let it sit for 2 more minutes. Now don't stir it constantly or it will get mushy. Now your ingredients will taste like what they are separately.

That's it. Now season it with some fish sauce! slight sprinkles or soy sauce, but very sparingly or it will overpower the whole dish. Also you can season with oyster sauce, pepper and salt. 

A photo of Hong Kong market.