If you start with sticky, warm, just-cooked rice, your fried rice will turn out soggy, without those distinct chewy grains that a good fried rice has. Instead, cook the rice at least a day ahead of time and refrigerate. This helps to dry the grains out enough to give your fried rice a good texture.
Use cold, leftover cooked rice. Left in the fridge overnight, the rice grains will firm up, making it easier to separate and decreasing the chances of your fried rice turning out mushy. If you can't wait, air freshly cooked rice to remove moisture and refrigerate the rice for a few hours before cooking. 2.
Tips for making The Best Fried Rice
Choose the right type of rice: Long grain rice like jasmine is best! Use COLD day old rice: For best results! Cold rice will crisp up in the hot oil. Warm rice will not toast and can even become mushy.
- Freshly cooked rice is hot, steamy, very moist and a little sticky ? this will make your fried rice clumpy and soggy. - Day-old rice is dryer and will give your fried rice a good texture and will bring out the individual flavours of the other ingredients.
Starting with freshly cooked or well-chilled rice guarantees it won't clump up as you stir-fry it. Frying in batches compensates for the low heat output of Western stovetops. Keeping the seasoning very light allows the flavor of the rice and aromatics to come through.
1) Use cold rice: You've gotta plan ahead and use thoroughly-chilled cooked rice. A fresh batch of warm (or even lukewarm) rice will not fry well when it hits the hot pan, and will result in soggy and sticky clumps — no good. So leftover refrigerated rice is ideal!
One tip is to never fry with cold rice right out of the fridge – be sure to take the overnight rice out of the fridge beforehand and warm it up briefly in the microwave. It should be barely warm or at least room temperature when you start cooking, otherwise it won't be able to absorb the flavours from frying.
Freshly-made grains of rice (short or medium grain, please) are bloated with water (read: mushy), which are nearly impossible to get as crunchy and crisp as good fried rice should be. Day-old rice, on the other hand, has dried out and is perfect for frying.
Let cool: Spread cooked rice onto a rimmed baking sheet and let it cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. (Spreading the rice on a baking sheet helps it cool more rapidly to room temperature.) Transfer the sheet to the refrigerator and let the rice chill for 20 minutes.
The answer: high heat, expert tosses, and something known as 'wok hei. ' As J. Kenji López-Alt writes for Serious Eats, expert cooking with a wok (and the gas range it requires) is one of the main reasons that fried rice from a Chinese restaurant tastes so much better than what you can make at home.
If you start with sticky, warm, just-cooked rice, your fried rice will turn out soggy, without those distinct chewy grains that a good fried rice has. Instead, cook the rice at least a day ahead of time and refrigerate. This helps to dry the grains out enough to give your fried rice a good texture.
Mushy or soggy rice is simply overcooked rice that has absorbed too much water. Water over-absorption causes the rice grains to split open, ruining the texture and creating a starchy, gummy result.
And there's one trick to searing: don't rush it. If you throw in all the ingredients at once because you want to get it over with, you'll lower the temperature in the pan and cause them—and the rice—to essentially steam and turn bland and flabby. And that's the opposite of the lovely crispiness you crave.
Use High Heat and Frying Oil
Whether you're using freshly cooked or leftover rice, the vital element of cooking fried rice is the heat. If the heat is too low, you run the risk of steaming your rice instead of frying it. Fry the rice and veggies on high heat to achieve that slight brown look and crispy texture.
Can you make Fried Rice with fresh rice? Fried Rice is best with cold, refrigerated, leftover rice. Using freshly cooked rice put too much moisture into the recipe and often results in soggy rice. But if you're in a pinch and wanting fried rice without using leftover rice, you can make it with fresh rice.
Yes, provided it has been stored and reheated properly. Any leftover rice that you use for this recipe should be refrigerated within a couple of hours of cooking it. Additionally, as long as the fried rice is cooked at high heat on the skillet, there should be little concern. The rice should be good for up to 5 days.
Please throw your leftover rice away if it's more than a week old! In culinary school, I was taught that five days is really the maximum lifespan for any leftovers—after that, you're risking foodborne illness with each passing day (plus, nothing tastes that delicious after a week).
Fried rice is at its most delicious when it's fluffy and not too sticky. It should have distinct, individual grains. Here are tips to help you make fried rice that tastes as good as it does at your favorite restaurant.
Why is stale rice healthier than fresh rice? A process known as starch retrogradation, which turns the digestible starch into a resistant one, is reportedly started after the cooked starch is cooled. Our body can absorb and break it down more easily, which causes blood sugar levels to rise.
The main function of this is to change the composition of the starch on the surface of the rice. This reduces the starches that cross-link and make rice sticky. It helps your rice to cook up into separate grains. While you're at it, it also adds some flavor to the rice, by caramelizing some of the starches.