Easy and yummy way to make your favorite take-away Chinese Special Fried Rice. You can also tweak the flavoring to your taste.

As I have mentioned before in previous posts, we are obsessed with rice in the Philippines. Why do I say so? Well, we just eat rice at least 3 times a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner. I say at least 3 times because more often than not - it may be 5 times. Yes, seriously!

The 4th maybe in the mid to late afternoon when you fancy a quick meal before dinner. Rice would then be cold as it's usually the left-over from lunch or perhaps breakfast and at this stage it is called "bahaw." Not many households have the luxury of having a microwave so people just eat the rice cold and by that I don't mean chilled in the fridge but simply rice left at room temperature. The 5th chance to eat rice is after dinner as chances are your dessert is made from rice or at least includes rice as ingredient. This is not implausible as many of our native delicacies particularly the native sweets are also made from rice.

As  you can imagine, with rice being served several times a day, we definitely have lots of left-overs so fried rice is often on the menu. Since I already made the Filipino version of Fried Rice called "Sinangag." I thought I'll attempt this time to make the Chinese favorite Special Fried Rice or at least our spin on it.

It's pretty easy to make and really tasty, too. The key is to use previously cooked and chilled rice. You cannot use a freshly cooked rice as that won't work. I particularly prefer to use Basmati rice when I make fried rice as it's not as sticky as other rice so the grains separate easily. But, feel free to use Jasmine rice or other types of rice, too. Provided they are chilled beforehand, they work perfectly fine, too as I have tried them previously as well. As with any quick stir-fries, make sure that you've got all the ingredients ready when you make this as everything goes fast when you start cooking and there's no time to prepare the ingredients in between cooking. At any rate, there isn't much to chop or prep anyway as most of the ingredients can be done ahead of time and you can also buy the ham diced already and this requires pre-cooked shrimp as well to make it even more convenient. Certainly, let the measurement be a guide so even if you have less than 6 cups of rice, simply adjust the seasonings to taste and you will be fine! Just follow your taste buds. Hope you try this!

Special Fried Rice

By: Manila Spoon
March 12, 2016



Easy and yummy way to make your favorite take-away Chinese Special Fried Rice. You can also tweak the flavoring to your taste.

Ingredients

• 3 Eggs
• 2 tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 1 cup diced cooked thick-sliced ham
• 1 cup cooked shrimp, shelled
• 1 cup green Peas
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Chinese Rice wine or dry Sherry (optional, if you don't have it)
• 2 Tablespoons, regular Oil
• 6 cups cooked rice, chilled (preferably with grains already fluffed or separated - for convenience)
• 3-4 Green Onions (Scallions), finely chopped
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Lightly beat the eggs and season with a little salt. Set aside.
2. Heat the wok medium-high and add the sesame oil then stir-fry the shrimp, peas and ham for about a minute. Pour in the soy sauce and wine. Stir quickly and then transfer everything to a bowl.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the wok then scramble the eggs gently. Add the chilled rice and stir often to ensure the grains separate.When the rice is  heated sufficiently add the chopped green onions and the shrimp, ham and peas including its sauce. Mix well and season with salt or a little more soy sauce according to taste. Garnish with fresh chopped green onions, if desired. Serve immediately with your favorite Asian viand.

Yield: 6-8 Servings
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cooking Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 15 Minutes