While you could make this with leftover rice, you’ll get a better result steaming the rice specifically for this purpose. That was surprising to me when I learned about this technique via Chinese Cooking Demystified. Once I had tried it, I was convinced.
Unless you have a very large wok and a very, very powerful wok burner, I’d suggest making this in two batches.
Ingredients
- 200 g jasmine rice
- Neutral oil
- 2 eggs (100 g), beaten
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 20 g soy sauce
Method
Start by preparing the rice. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Then add the rice and par-boil it for 3 minutes. Drain the rice, and then transfer it to a steamer (or steam in the strainer over a pot of boiling water) to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the pot and steamer from the heat and let it steam for a further 5 minutes.
Heat a wok or other heavy pan over very high heat, then add a thick film of oil and swirl to distribute it in the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the egg, and quickly cook it to set the bottom. Push the egg to one side of the pan, and then add the scallions and steamed rice. Bring the heat to high and toss the rice together with the other ingredients, breaking up the egg in the process. The grains of rice should be slightly jumping in the pan and well-separated, not clumping together.
Pour the soy sauce along the rim of the pan, and then continue tossing and stirring to coat.
Serve the fried rice immediately.