What's Cookin'? (original) (raw)
Greetings! This is a re-post of my recipe for Chinese Restaurant Pork Fried Rice, originally posted at http://cgpbento.livejournal.com/6165.html, and also featured on my profile page. Recently I was making a couple batches, and on the second I measured everything I put in as I went, so this recipe is no longer base estimation, and in theory could be followed by anyone to achieve the same great results! I figured I'd put it out there for sharing, in communities as well as my blog, since it was all new and improved. >^_^< Enjoy!
I made "Chinese restaurant style" pork fried rice! I had to mostly make up the recipe myself, since I couldn't find anything anywhere that mentioned what I wanted to do. I incorporated some of the vegetable ingredients and mixing ideas from a couple other recipes, but I'm really happy that I got pretty much the exact results I wanted with my own idea and attempt. (I couldn't find anything that said how to do the pork like I wanted to.) Yay!
Step 1: Chinese pork
- pork, cut into small cubes
- a jar of Ah-So sauce
Put the pork in a baking pan. Pour in enough Ah-So sauce to cover pork, stir. Put in a 350 - 400 degree oven [depending on how well your oven works] for about an hour. (May take longer, even up to 2 hours, depending on the batch- mainly going for thoroughly cooked pork with a dark sauce color.) Check and stir periodically, about every 10 - 15 minutes or so.
Ah-So sauce is interesting stuff. It's bright red, somewhat sweet, very salty, and very sticky. It tends to stick to the cooked pork thickly, making it not really resemble [American] Chinese restaurant pork at all. It's still tasty though. Of course, after I had added it to the fried rice, the way the excess sauce rubbed off while stirring apparently left the pork resembling the Chinese restaurant pork perfectly.
And if MSG is a concern for you, then no problem, because there is no MSG in the Ah-So Sauce. I have never seen more than one brand of Ah-So Sauce in this area, but a quick check of the ingredients label will let you know if your Ah-So Sauce is also MSG Free.
Step 2: Pork Fried Rice
- 6 tbsp cooking oil
- 6 cups cooked rice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (LaChoy brand or similar taste for best results)
- 1 cup chopped carrot bits
- 1 cup chopped green onions (scallions), or regular onion
- 1/2 a 12-16oz package of bean sprouts
- cooking spray (or more oil)
- 2 large eggs (3 if small)
- 1 cup Chinese pork, as prepared above
Add 6 tbsp cooking oil to a wok or wok-like pan at med-high heat. Put in 6 cups of cooked rice. Fresh, moist rice is best to work with, so either use freshly finished rice or microwave your leftover rice- covered- to re-heat and restore moisture. (If your rice has become very dry, drip some water over it and then cover and microwave to restore moisture).
Cover rice with 1/4 cup soy sauce (LaChoy brand soy sauce gave the best results). Stir until evenly coated. Press the rice flat into the pan and let it sit. Go ahead and press it down as far up against the sides of the pan as it will go, to get it all as flat as possible. About every 2 or 3 minutes, "flip" the rice- pretty much, just stir it around and then flatten it again. Cook until starting to look fried.
Turn down the heat to 1 setting under medium. Add 1 cup of chopped up carrot bits and stir. Add 1 cup of chopped green onions (or regular onion) and stir. Add two big handfuls of fresh bean sprouts (about half of a 12-16oz package), stir. Cover with a lid and let sit for 5 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point.
Now the veggies are starting to look cooked, while the beansprouts are still looking somewhat fresh (don't worry, they'll be done by the time you're finished). Push everything to one side of the pan to leave yourself some open space. Add a small amount of cooking oil or some cooking spray. Put in the 2 eggs (3 if small) and scramble them up, breaking them apart into small bits. Try pressing the tip of the spatula into them and moving it back and forth as you go. (Don't worry if some of the rice or veggies fall into them.) Then stir the egg bits into the rice and veggies.
Now you can turn off the heat, you're almost done.
Add about 1 cup of Chinese pork (as prepared above) into the rice, and stir thoroughly (excess Ah-So sauce will rub off on the rice while stirring). Then let sit for a short while to cool down a bit.
You have tasty Chinese pork fried rice! >^_^<
Try it out, tweak your ingredient amounts as needed, and you should be able to get perfect Chinese restaurant pork fried rice from this. >^_^< .
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