Homemade Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken Fried Rice

Everybody likes at least one item of Chinese food, be it egg rolls, sesame chicken, or lo mein, Personally, I can't get enough of it - I grew up eating Chinese food pretty regularly, and particularly on special occasions. Being adopted, my family used to always celebrate the day that I flew over from South Korea to JFK Airport in New York, and we called it my "Airplane Day". I'd get all dressed up and we would go to this Chinese restaurant in Wilmington called Szechuan 132. That's just one of the many reasons I have fond memories and associations when it comes to Chinese food, so when my wonderful fiancé started making homemade fried rice, not only did it make me extremely nostalgic and happy, but it made me love him that much more, especially since he knows how important those memories are to me. I'm going to share with you our easy-peasy recipe for Chicken Fried Rice. 

First thing's first - the key is using old rice. I know, the impulse is to make fresh rice, but it just won't work. The rice needs to be at least a day old (freshly cooked rice is too wet), but I recommend using rice that's been around for at least 2-3 days. As I've mentioned, we love Jasmine rice, so we saved some from a few nights ago to use. Next, pick your protein - obviously, you can choose any kind of meat, but we had some extra chicken breasts laying around, so Chris cut them into cubes. He put some sesame and vegetable oil in the wok and turned the heat to medium, adding the chicken and cooking thoroughly. He then drained the extra oil and set the chicken aside,

Next, we chose and sliced our vegetables. We used red onions, mushrooms and red and green bell peppers, (Peas and carrots are also typically included.) Once those were cut to his liking, Chris added more oil in the wok and sauteéd them all together, You don't want to overcook them, just enough so they're palatable but still have some crunch to them (especially the peppers). 

The next thing to go into the wok is the rice, then we added water chestnuts, and... pineapple! I'm sure you're wondering, "Why pineapple?" Trust me, once cooked, the pineapple bits are like little chunks of sweetness that brighten up the whole dish. Additionally, the juice that comes out while cooking flavors the sauce even more and rounds out the dish (in my opinion, anyway). After those are ready, we added the chicken, then the sauce. We like our rice to be on the moist side - personally, fried rice tends to be too dry, and more sauce equals more flavor, as well. Chris used a mixture of soy sauce and hoisin, and also added salt, pepper, garlic, and honey. He cooked over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the rice browned (keep stirring so the rice doesn't stick), and served. It's that easy!

I hope this provided a little insight to all of you who love ordering take-out but want to learn to make it at home - it's really not as complicated as you might think. Fee free to ask any questions, I'm here to help! Instead of a quote, here's a relevant image for you:

Can't disagree there. Happy eating!