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cimoreneOkay, I'm sure it's not a secret really, but it wasn't in the recipe in the Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking that we got our standard from when I was growing up.
Then I spent a summer in Japan when I was seventeen, and on the way home from an idyllic trip to some famed giant iris gardens we stopped at a little Chinese cottage restaurant with a formal diningroom atmosphere, and I had the best plate of fried rice ever in my life. (I also sampled some spicy red soup so hot it made my eyes and nose stream, and I saw my first teenaged Japanese guy dressed in gobs of blue eyeliner, holding hands with his girlfriend under the table.)
Anyway, I had paroxysms over this fried rice, and when we got home again Mama said she thought she could duplicate it, but hers wasn't quite as fantastic (I think she used some crab sauce, among other flavourings), and no other that I've had since ever has been.
But tonight I was struck with inspiration. After adding the soy sauce and vegetables back to the frying rice, I mixed up a pinch of ground ginger and chili powder in some more soy sauce and diluted it with water, and sprinkled it over the whole mixture for the last five minutes or so of frying time. Then I served it all with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
It's the closest I've ever come! I think it might be better with a bit more soy and ginger, and even a bit more chili (I only used about half a teaspoon to a whole 2 breasts of chicken and cup and a half of rice), assuming the fried rice isn't meant for those of wimpy tastebuds (eg Wax).
Then I spent a summer in Japan when I was seventeen, and on the way home from an idyllic trip to some famed giant iris gardens we stopped at a little Chinese cottage restaurant with a formal diningroom atmosphere, and I had the best plate of fried rice ever in my life. (I also sampled some spicy red soup so hot it made my eyes and nose stream, and I saw my first teenaged Japanese guy dressed in gobs of blue eyeliner, holding hands with his girlfriend under the table.)
Anyway, I had paroxysms over this fried rice, and when we got home again Mama said she thought she could duplicate it, but hers wasn't quite as fantastic (I think she used some crab sauce, among other flavourings), and no other that I've had since ever has been.
But tonight I was struck with inspiration. After adding the soy sauce and vegetables back to the frying rice, I mixed up a pinch of ground ginger and chili powder in some more soy sauce and diluted it with water, and sprinkled it over the whole mixture for the last five minutes or so of frying time. Then I served it all with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
It's the closest I've ever come! I think it might be better with a bit more soy and ginger, and even a bit more chili (I only used about half a teaspoon to a whole 2 breasts of chicken and cup and a half of rice), assuming the fried rice isn't meant for those of wimpy tastebuds (eg Wax).
