Hi everyone, welcome to Souped Up Recipes. I hope all of you are doing well. The whole world is fighting the coronavirus. Some of you will find the supermarket shelves
stripped bare as a result of panic buying. I understand it can be difficult to cook without
the right ingredients. Today I will show how to make good fried rice
with the ingredients that you already have in your kitchen. Let’s start with the rice. Using leftover rice is a quick and efficient
way. But what if you don’t have leftover rice? So, let me show you how to cook the rice perfectly. I prefer Thai jasmine rice. It has a popcorn-like aroma and a slightly
nutty flavor. Of course, you can use other types, there
is no restriction. You just rub it again and again. Rinse off all the excess starch. This will help the grains become less sticky. Change the water several times until it is
clear. Then drain it completely. It is better to use a nonstick pot to cook
the rice. Add a drizzle of vegetable oil. Mix it well. This will the grains separate
from each other. Pour in 1 cup of water. Give it a swirl to even out the rice. Put on the lid. Turn the heat to high and bring this pot to
a boil. Do not go away because it only takes a couple
of minutes. It is better to use a glass lid that can see
through, so you will know exactly when it is boiling. I just do it by experience. Turn the heat
to the lowest possible. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Open the lid. You should have some perfectly cooked rice. You don’t want to cook it for too long or
else the bottom will be burned. You can use this to make fried rice immediately. But freshly cooked rice is always sticky compared
to when it is cooled down, which is why people like to use leftover rice. If you have time, just let chill in the fridge
for 4 hours or longer. The next day, you can break it up and it should
fluffy, not sticky at all. Just perfect. We used one cup of uncooked rice approximately makes
2 cups of cooked rice. That is enough to serve 2 people. Besides the rice, you also want to pick a
couple types of protein. I choose egg which is typical. All you need
to do is beat it well. Set it aside. For the meat, you can marinate some chicken,
beef, or shrimp. Consider I already made videos with those
examples, today I will use bacon. I know it is not traditional for Chinese fried
rice but who cares. It is flavored already so you don’t need
to marinade it. It is easy to get even during this coronavirus
outbreak, and everybody loves it. All you need to do is cut it into bite-size. Separate the pieces and set them aside. I like to put vegetables in my fried rice. Just use 1 cup of frozen vegetable mix. Of course, fresh veggies are more welcome
too. Ok, let’s start cooking. Add a little bit of oil just to lubricate
the carbon steel wok surface so the bacon doesn’t stick. If you use Teflon-coated wok, you don’t
need to do that. Add the bacon. Use medium or medium-low heat
to cook it until it is golden. Another thing I like about using bacon is
that it gives you so much fat which makes the rice even more flavorful. Of course, you can take out some of your bacon
provides more oil than what you need. Leave about 2-3 tbsp of oil in there. We will use that to fry the egg. The way we cook it is like the opposite of
making scrambled eggs. You put it on high heat and slightly brown
it. That is just the way we like. Of course, if you want to make it like a soft,
fluffy scrambled egg. That is ok too. Use your spatula and break
it into many pieces. Add the vegetable mix. Keep cooking until they are soft. In my experience,
frozen vegetables cook faster than fresh ones. Once they reach the doneness that your like,
add the rice. Now, you have to turn the heat to high in
order to get the wok heat effect, we call it Wok-hey in Cantonese. It develops a slight toasty taste. It makes
the rice fluffy instead of sticky and mussy. Also, rice is a starchy ingredient, if you
cook it over low heat, it will likely stick to the bottom. I know it sounds strange but that is how you
cook with a carbon steel wok. Anyway, your fried rice looks amazing right
now. If you want to keep it simple, season it with
salt and pepper. I normally use these 3 ingredients - oyster
sauce, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Together, they give the fried rice the right
color and unique flavorful taste. These are the brands that I use. They are Chinese cooking pantry essentials. You can get them easily in most Asian groceries. Mix all the seasoning until you don’t see
any white rice. Then toss in some diced green onion. Mix again. Give it a final taste before serving so you
can adjust the flavor. Look at that. The rice came out so fluffy.
Not sticky at all. It is very flavorful. Definitely better than take-out. Most importantly, it is quick and easy to
make. I hope you give this a try soon. If you did,
leave me a comment and let me know how it goes. As always, you can click the link in
the description and find the printable recipe. Thank you for watching and I will see you
next time. Bye!!
