Fried Rice

Now that fall is here, we want to cook warm dishes for the cool fall days. Fried Rice can be cooked up ahead of time and just reheated later or eaten as a cooked dish.

First I organize everything I need to make this dish, the veggies, rice, ham, eggs and the condiments. And of course the rice. So now we can get started.

• 1/2 medium Onion peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 or 1/3 Green Pepper, coarsely chopped
• 4 or 5 Mushrooms sliced
• 1/4 cup shredded Carrots
• 1 slice Ham chopped (optional)
• Dry Sherry
• Oyster Sauce
• Soy Sauce, low salt if possible
• 2 - 4 cups cooked Rice
• 1 - 2 eggs lightly scrambled
• Peanut Oil

Ok, lets get stated here, first cut, slice and dice whatever ingredients your going to use. Next we get out our wok, a real steel one and not an electric one or non-stick one, you know the kind that has been used for thousands of years in China. We are cooking a Chinese dish, so lets be traditional. You can now obtain a wok with a flat bottom so it will work on most any stove. I have 2 woks, one is 10 inches across and is a perfect size for fried rice. My other one is 14 inches across and is better suited for making the whole meal. Ok, so today we will use whatever you have handy, don't tell me you have broken tradition.

So we start by heating the wok on your gas stove. What!!! You have only electric, things are not what they should be, but electric will be acceptable. Tradition has gone out the window. We will continue heating our wok. Take a droplet of water and drop it in our wok, if the water beads up and sissles then we have the right temperature. Add a tablespoon or so of peanut oil. We use peanut oil, because it is tradition and it can stand the high heat. Tradition has been restored. Add the scrambled eggs and swirl them around so that they are shredded and use your bamboo utensils to shred the eggs, when cooked, remove the eggs from the wok and set to one side. Next add onion and ham, cook until the onions are translucent. Now is a good time to add a little sherry. If the wok is too hot, turn the flame down a bit. If you are using an electric stove or wok, your on your own here. When the onion and ham are done, you are ready to add the other ingredients. You may want to use other meats other than ham, but if the meat is raw, uncooked, then you have to be sure it is cooked before moving on. Other meat choices might be beef, chicken or pork.

When we are ready to move on, we add the peppers, carrots and mushrooms. When I chop the veggies I put them in a pan of their own, so when I reach this stage I grab the bowl I want and in everything goes. Add a little soy sauce and oyster sauce, being careful not to over salt with the soy sauce and maybe a touch more sherry. When alcohol is added in the cooking stage the alcohol burns off and the flavor stays, so after this point you would not add any more sherry. Either put away the bottle or pour yourself a glass of sherry.

When all the veggies look done to you add the rice and the eggs that were set aside. Rice is usually sticky so if the clumps of rice do not break up easily add a little soy sauce or water or chicken stock. You could make chicken stock from bullion cubes, but again another salty ingredient. You need enough liquid in the pan to get everything to mix together as you are stir frying the rice. So when you have everything mixed to your satisfaction, you are ready to sit down and enjoy your creation.

You may of noticed, some ingredients did not have amounts next to them, that is so you can be creative when you wok. It's fun to wok.