Cooking Fried Rice

I’m a huge fan of WokHey’s prawn fried rice. It’s great but slightly overpriced.

For a simpler rice-bowl dinner, I also keep a tested oyakodon recipe using Hon-Tsuyu.

There are many videos of WokHey staff preparing fried rice on YouTube. The following is one of them. This blog will serve as my way of learning how to prepare the dish.

Ingredients

• Cooking oil
• 2 eggs
• Cooked rice
• 1 tbsp MSG
• 1 tsp salt
• Mixed vegetables, optional
• Spring onions, sliced

Method and Timing

I think timing matters a lot here. So I’ll go by the clip’s timing, aligned with significant events, to see if there’s a recipe that they are following.

0:45 Oil in, leave it in the wok to heat up the oil. Prepare two eggs at the side. Once done with the eggs, swirl the wok to distribute the oil evenly. Ensure the wok is smoking hot.

1:00 While shaking the wok left and right, pour the eggs in. Let the egg whites sit a little before popping the egg yolks. Using the ladle, beat the eggs in the wok to mix the yolks with the whites. Keep shaking the wok. Move the egg such that the more liquid bits touch the wok too.

1:11 Flip the egg, cook the other side. Do not cook until it chars. The egg remains whitish/light yellowish.

1:20 Use the ladle to start breaking up the cooked egg into pieces.

1:30 Toss the ingredients in first, with the rice on top. Flatten the rice and ingredients so that the items in the wok are well distributed in a thin layer across the entire wok. This ensures everything gets heated. Stir to mix the items completely.

1:40 Add in 1 tbsp MSG and 1 tsp salt. This is believed to be Aji-No-Moto’s MSG.

1:43 Add in vegetables (if any).

What follows is a combination of ladle and wok action that serves to continuously mix and toss the ingredients such that the heat is evenly distributed.

Toss x3

The left hand holding the wok has more of a forward action: push, toss up, pull the wok back.

Simultaneously, the right hand holding the ladle pushes the tossed rice back to the front for the next toss.

Stir x12

Move the ladle using your right hand in a circular motion over the ingredients while using your left hand to move the wok forward and back very slightly.

Honestly, the number of tosses/stirs is largely by vibes.

2:20 Add in spring onions.

Do the toss and stir again.

2:33 It’s done!

In retrospect, I believe the timing is largely by vibes. Is the egg almost done? Yes -> Add ingredients and rice. Mix the ingredients a little, then add in MSG and vegetables (they take longer to cook, so they go in earlier). Toss and stir for about 40 more seconds, add in spring onions (10s before bringing it out), toss and stir for 10 seconds, then you’re done.

Disclaimer: The ideas presented in this post are solely my personal perspective and have not been substantiated by any verifiable evidence. Please form your own opinions on such matters.