Din Tai Fung Fried Rice - CJ Eats Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient to restaurant fried rice? ›

Cooking bits of chopped vegetables, seasoning, soy sauce, and oil, seems easy enough. However, when making fried rice at home, there's one ingredient you may be overlooking: Sugar.

Signature flavor

To give your dish that signature fried rice taste, you'll need to drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, but feel free to use as much or as little as you wish. You can even mix in things like garlic powder, ginger root, or Sriracha sauce and chili pepper for a bit of a kick.

The fine, long grains of jasmine rice with its delicate flavour are perfect for fried rice. Precook the rice at least 30 minutes, but preferably one day, before making fried rice and keep it uncovered in the fridge.

The answer: high heat, expert tosses, and something known as 'wok hei. ' As J. Kenji López-Alt writes for Serious Eats, expert cooking with a wok (and the gas range it requires) is one of the main reasons that fried rice from a Chinese restaurant tastes so much better than what you can make at home.

In fact, the use of classic Chinese sauces is exactly what makes takeout fried rice so incredibly moreish. Key amongst these is soy sauce. By adding soy sauce during cooking chefs are adding both salt and umami to the fried rice which, unsurprisingly, greatly improves the dish's overall flavor.

The basic elements of Chinese fried rice include rice, meat and vegetables, soy sauce and garlic.

Put a little fat in before cooking - 1 tablespoon of butter or oil per 1 cup of rice. Add some flavor. Put a bay leaf in with the rice while it's cooking or use some bouillon. Everyone on here is saying chicken, but I like to use a little Vegetable Better than Bouillon.

The usage of rice

But in Chinese rice, it is suggested to use leftover cooked rice to avoid the rice from being sticky. In Fried Rice, most quick-service restaurants (QSRs) use long-grain white rice like Basmati, whereas Jasmine Rice is used in Chinese Rice.

The difference between Yangzhou fried rice and ordinary fried rice is that Yangzhou style invariably includes a combination of proteins. Rather than using a single protein like shrimp or pork or chicken as the dominant ingredient in fried rice, Yangzhou uses a variety.

Is Chinese fried rice junk food? ›

Fried rice is not a nutritionally balanced meal on its own, and you should enjoy it in moderation as part of a varied and balanced diet. Adding a variety of vegetables, lean protein sources, and whole grains can help to improve the nutritional value of fried rice.

Chinese fried rice uses varieties of long-grain white rice, which includes the likes of basmati and jasmine. This gives the dish a characteristically dry, firm texture and leads to a little more crispness when fried. Japanese fried rice, on the other hand, uses short-grain white rice, like sushi rice aka Japanese rice.

The seasonings at hibachi restaurants are actually pretty simple. Veggies, rice, meats, and seafood are all seasoned with salt and pepper. Almost every dish also gets a hefty hunk of butter and garlic, as well as a squirt of a soy sauce based sauce.

Best type of rice for fried rice

Chinese fried rice is made with white long grain rice. But it can be made with any type of cooked, chilled rice – long grain, short grain, jasmine, basmati, even brown rice. Every Asian country has their version of fried rice, and use different rices.

The golden yellow color comes from the egg yolk. The method of making golden fried rice is different from classic fried rice. The egg is mixed with rice directly before stir-frying. If you want your golden fried rice to be more “yellow”, you can add more egg yolks.

Peanut oil: This is a popular choice due to its high smoke point (important for stir-frying) and its slightly nutty flavor that complements many Chinese dishes. Lard: Traditionally used for its richness and savory taste, lard is still used in some restaurants, especially for simple dishes where it adds depth of flavor.

Vinegar is one of the less used ingredient in a fried rice. You will not find vinegar in most Chinese fried rice recipes. But it really adds a slight tang to the rice and enhances the taste. Rice vinegar is used in Chinese cooking especially in stir fry, salad dressings etc.

Some restaurants add MSG to a number of popular dishes, including fried rice. MSG is also used by franchises like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chick-fil-A to enhance the flavor of foods.