Fried Rice

In warm-weather Asian cuisines where rice rather than wheat is the main dietary staple, fried rice is a traditional answer to the question, "What should we do with this leftover rice?" (Other answers include congee and the rice soup called jook.) The question of what to add to the dish is traditionally answered by whatever other ingredients happen to be left over or handy -- typically meat scraps, vegetables, and eggs. Fried rice, though, has also become an institution in itself, both in Asia and in the American-vernacular version of Chinese cuisine, with deluxe versions such as yangchow (or 'house special fried rice') carrying something of a flag for the fried-rice concept. The Indonesian flagship version is nasi goreng, served with a fried egg on top, while the Korean variant adds kimchi. Thailand reverses the concept entirely with 'American fried rice,' a concoction of rice with fried chicken, hot dog pieces, ketchup, french fries, and if they have White Castle in Thailand, then they've probably experimented with that as well. Japan generally follows the Chinese version, with a certain lightness of seasoning and sometimes the addition of sake, seaweed, or other at-hand ingredients.

Fast Facts

1. Probably originated in eastern China, in antiquity
2. Often made with chopped pork or chicken
3. Traditionally cooked with high heat in a wok
4. Staple of American-Chinese cuisine
5. Often seasoned with soy sauce

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