Fukien Fried Rice

Fukien Fried Rice
Originally uploaded by gummychild

As you know, I love making fried rice. =) It's healthy (really, we don't need that much oil, even if it's called "fried"), depending on what you put in it, and you can use up any leftovers that are sitting in your fridge. And it's tasty. =)

Today, I decided to make the Fukien-style fried rice, which is a "wet" fried rice. You know how you can order burritos regular, or wet? Well, fried rice (and noodles, like the Chiu-Chou style stir-fried noodles!) come in the same way. Basically, you have a very basic fried rice on the bottom, and top it with the ingredients that are usually in a nice and savory gravy sauce...the sauce leaks into all the cracks of each rice grain below, filling the entire dish with flavor. ^_^

The ingredients are all eyeballed again, so I'll do my best to guesstimate measurements for those that want to try it. Keep in mind though: cooking is based on how you like certain flavors, how much you want of this or that, and is pretty flexible, so feel free to go crazy and adjust to your own liking. =)


Ingredients Ready To Go!
Ingredients:

- 3 Chicken Thighs, deboned, and with the skin and fats removed.
- 1.5 Tablespoons of cooking wine
- Grated ginger (just about a teaspoon)
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (I wanted more garlic flavor today)
- a handful of bok choy, cleaned.
- 2 eggs, beaten.
- handful of cilantro, rinsed and chopped up.
- 1 sprig of green onion, cleaned and diced.
- 2 cups of rice (cook this beforehand)
- 2 more eggs, beaten and set aside.
- Oil to stir-fry

*Optional: You can add other veggies, such as sliced shitake mushrooms, diced carrots, and dried scallops. Those would be some nice additional touches to the ingredients I used today, but again, fried rice is pretty flexible. Do what you want. =) As for protein, adding sliced pork, beef, shrimp, and even fish fillet or meatballs (the Asian kind) would work too.

Gravy Sauce Ingredients: (all eyeballed...)

- 1 cup of water
- 2 Tbsp of starch (I use tapioca starch normally, but cornstarch works just as well for those that don't have tapioca starch)
- 1.5 Tbsp of Oyster Sauce
- 2 tsp of light soy sauce

Directions:

1. Dice the chicken thighs, and marinade with cooking wine, grated ginger, minced garlic, and starch. Set aside.

2. Chop the box choy. I like to chop the stems about half an inch wide, and the leafy parts 2-3 times bigger. Set aside.

3. Take the 2 beaten eggs and make a thin pancake on a saute pan that's over medium heat. Flip when one side is done, and when the whole thing is cooked, remove the egg and cut it into thin strips. Set aside. You won't need the saute pan anymore; everything now goes on the wok.

4. Heat up the wok on high, and add the other 2 beaten eggs slowly in a circle, so that it forms something of a thin pancake. You might just add a little more than half of the eggs at first. Add your rice, and stir-fry the eggs into the rice; add the rest of the eggs as you cook so that it mixes and mingles well with the rice. The rice should look "golden" as the eggs coat each grain. =) If you find it gets a little dry on your wok, add some oil; I usually will add a few teaspoons (one ring around the wok with my oil cruet). Remove the rice and set into your serving platter.

5. While the wok is still hot, add a ring of oil and toss in your chicken. Have fun stir-frying! When using a wok, I always prefer to "hear" the cooking - the sizzling, the metal spatula sliding against the iron wok as it confidently flips over the food pieces - it shows me that real cooking is being done! Hee hee. ^_^

Do you see the "green" oyster sauce??? Lee Kum Kee has a "No MSG, No Preservative" Oyster Sauce now. The taste is just as good. =)

6. When the chicken pieces are about 3/4ths done, go ahead and add the egg strips, cilantro, and green onions. Mix them well, and as the chicken pieces are almost done, add in the bok choy and mix well.


Step #6a...



Step #6b...

7. Make your gravy in a separate bowl, and add into the wok mixture. Adjust your gravy as needed: more water to thin it out, or starch to thicken. You won't know whether you need to thin the sauce or thicken it until you see it cook and heat up with the rest of the ingredients, as the heat helps thicken the sauce.

8. When the entire mixture is heated through (look for bubbles all over the wok!) and as thick/thin as you like, dish it all up on top of the rice, and voila! Serve hot and fresh! ^_^

Look for bubbles throughout your sauce to know that everything is heated thoroughly!



Piping hot and ready to serve!