liatris

I'm not OP but I would offer a couple of tips that I've picked up that have improved my fried rice. First off you've got to realize that you're not going to get authentic fried rice without a wok burner. Some people get around this by using a wok and a high output gas burner like the ones used for crawfish boils or to fry turkey. If you prefer to cook indoors on a gas or electric stove use a flat bottomed skillet, it makes 0 sense to use a wok on a normal stove.

Home fried rice isn't actually fried because you don't use a large amount of oil. It is sauteed using a relatively small amount of oil over high heat. If you use too little though the rice grains will clump. If you use a non-stick skill you can use less oil without worrying about sticking.

Try to use peanut oil, if you don't have that use corn or canola.

Besides the proper pan you need to use day old rice, preferably some rice that has been spread out on a cookie sheet and allowed to cool at room temperature before being refrigerated. You want it dried out so it will absorb more of the flavor from the pan without becoming soggy. This helps ensure you have individual grains of rice instead of clumps. Break the clumps of cold rice up before adding them to the pan. The grain length doesn't matter bt don't try to get away with less than overnight cooling and don't use store bought pre-cooked rice, parboiled or converted rice.

You need MSG if you can find it look for MSG ‘chicken essence’ (ji jing 鸡精). Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon - Chicken Powder http://i.imgur.com/rWlrZQZ.jpg is a popular type of ji jing. Here is another brand This is just plain MSG. If you can't find that kind then buy another chicken bouillon and add MSG to it if it doesn't have it. Again for authenticity you need MSG. Here are some interesting articles on MSG. The Notorious MSG’s Unlikely Formula For Success - The “umami” craze has turned a much-maligned and misunderstood food additive into an object of obsession for the world’s most innovative chefs. But secret ingredient monosodium glutamate’s biggest secret may be that there was never anything wrong with it at all.

Cook your vegetables in oil separately, cooking them with the rice makes the rice soggy.

Cook your scrambled eggs first and set it aside with your vegetables. You don't want any browning, be sure to under cook the egg because you're going to finish cooking it in the rice and you don't want it over done. Just scramble lightly. This is the best pan I've ever used for eggs, it's about $20. They also make a 12.5 and 4 inch version that are also very good. T-fal Professional Total Nonstick Oven Safe Thermo-Spot Heat Indicator Fry Pan / Saute Pan Dishwasher Safe Cookware

Most Chinese cookbooks I have don't use a ton of soy sauce for fried rice, they keep their fried rice white which means they actually use salt for most of the seasoning. This prevents the rice from getting soggy. If you do like brown fried rice then use oyster sauce.

Be sure that the soy sauce you buy only has 3 or 4 ingredients: water, soy, salt a bit of preservative is ok too. Go to a Asian grocery store and get help picking out a good sauce if you can. If you don't have an Asian Grocer then Wan Ja Shan aged soy sauce is a pretty good brand that's found in most grocery stores. Remember Japanese soy sauces taste different from Chinese ones.

Find a good oyster sauce! It's a mixture of soy sauce, brine, and oyster extracts, you will not taste oyster in the final dish though. Use this more than soy sauce for seasoning because it won't make your rice soggy. Lee Kum Kee makes an ok one, it's certainly not the best but it is pretty easy to find.

Only buy 100% sesame oil.

More Resources:

/r/asianeats

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

The Key to Chinese Cooking Hardcover – September 12, 1977 by Irene Kuo

Not fried rice but delicious - IRENE KUO'S STIR-FRIED CELERY IN MEAT SAUCE

China Moon Cookbook by Barbara Tropp This link to Scribd sas a good number of the recipes viewable

This last one is a real treat if you can find it. The first chapter has a bunch of condiments and flavored oils. Here is one of my favorites....

China Moon Orange Chili Oil

3 large unblemished oranges

1/2 cup shockingly pungent dried red chili flaked

3 tbsp Chinese black beans (do not rinse them) coarsely chopped

1 - 2 large cloves garlic, lightly smashed and peeled

2 cups peanut oil

1/4 Japanese sesame oil

Wash oranges, peel zest leaving behind pith, mince zest. Combine zest with remaining ingredients in a heavy non-aluminum 2 - 2.5 qt saucepan. Bring mixture to 225-250 degrees over moderately low heat, stir occasionally, let bubble for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand until cool or overnight. Scrape the oil and seasoning "goop" into a glass or plastic container, cover store at room temperature. Use in everything including stirred into noodles and meatloaf.

---

Roasted Szechwan Pepper Salt

1/4 cup Szechwan peppercorns, thorns and twigs removed

1/2 cup kosher salt

Combine in heavy skillet and toast over moderate heat, stirring until the salt turns off white, about 5 minutes. Adjust heat so peppercorns do not burn, but expect them to smoke.

---

These recipes are from Cook's Illustrated Magazine March/April 2001 edition which covered fried rice....

Fried Rice with Peas and Bean Sprouts Makes about 8 cups, serving 4-6

Fried Rice with Shrimp, Pork and Peas Makes about 8 cups, serving 4-6

Thai Styled Curried Chicken Fried Rice Makes about 8 cups, serving 4-6

---

Ham and Egg Fried Rice From Barbara Tropp, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking

Celery and Pork Thread Fried Rice Barbara Tropp, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking

3 1/2 cups cold cooked rice

1/4 lb trimmed pork loin cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 large carrot, trimmed, peeled, yield 2/3 cup tiny diced carrots

2 inner stalks of celery plus the heart to equal 1/2 cup thin slices

2 - 2 1/2 tbsp corn or peanut oil

2 - 2 1/2 tsp Chinese rice wine or good dry sherry

1 - 1 1/4 tsp coarse kosher salt

3 tbsp thin cut green annd white scallion

What are some "off menu" items that pretty much every Chinese restaurant makes for non-Western customers. How can I get Chinese restaurants to sell me authentic Chinese food?

I don't think I've ever seen a white person or black person working in a Chinese restaurant in the US. I have always been curious about that from a discrimination point-of-view but just assumed they only hired family members or something.

What's to stop people from renting the text book for 1 day, then making a video recording of the text or something?

That's pretty funny.