扬州炒饭 (yáng zhōu chǎo fàn) - Yangzhou Fried Rice.

[liuzhou]

扬州炒饭 (yáng zhōu chǎo fàn)

Yangzhou Fried Rice.

 

Yangzhou is a city sitting on the north side of the Yangtse (note 1)  river in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. The city is known for its refined cuisine and especially for its fried rice, widely considered to be one of the best.

 

The internet is full of recipes, most of them wide of the mark, as are those on YouTube etc. This is an authentic recipe from Yangzhou.

 

Ingredients:

 

300 grams of cooked white medium grain rice, refrigerated overnight.

Red chilli pepper to taste

Green chilli pepper to taste

30 grams finely diced carrot

80 grams good quality ham finely diced (note 2)

5 grams white sesame seeds, untoasted

10 grams finely diced onion

3 grams minced scallions

3 grams salt

1 gram chicken bouillon powder

 

Method:

 

1) Prepare everything before cooking anything! Number one rule of stir-frying.

 

2) Heat wok and add a little neutral oil (note 3). When oil starts to smoke, add scallions and onions and stir rapidly until fragrant then add the chilli peppers, carrots and ham. Stir briefly, then add the rice, mixing it in well and breaking up any lumps (note 4). When rice is fully incorporated add the salt, chicken powder and sesame seeds

 

Notes

 

1  The term ‘Yangtse’ is all but unknown in China. The river, the world’s longest, is called 长江 (cháng jiāng), meaning ‘long river’ in Mandarin Chinese.

 

2  Good quality ham sausage can be substituted. The ham of choice in Yangzhou is Jinhua ham from Jinhua city in neighbouring Zhejiang Province. Good Italian hams work well.

 

3  Soy oil, sunfower oil, peanut oil or rice bran oil are best. Never olive oil.

 

4  The best way to do this is to press down of the rice in the walk with the back of a wok scoop. This breaks the lumps without breaking the individual grains of rice. Keep stirring until piping hot and serve.