Fried rice, fried rice please.

Science says it can be reheated if stored correctly.

Interesting re the stock to cook rice, not heard that one.

Brown rice and long grain are far better than basmati for fried rice.  Once the rice is boiling, I drain and rinse in cold water.

As ever, get your wok really hot before putting stuff in.

drain it

Chinese people love Westerners doing this bit!

It’s easier once you get the feel for how much water you need, then there’s no need to drain.  1.2x water to rice by volume works well.  1 cup uncooked rice is about right for 2 people.  Wash thoroughly!  Add 1.2x water (so 1.2 cups).  Heat high until boiling, then turn down low.  Turn it off completely when you can’t see any water left, but don’t open the lid and leave it to self steam a bit longer until ready to eat.

LOL again at the death rice zombie myth.

I’be been eating reheated leftover takeaway fried rice regularly all my life. Sometimes reheated more than once as I do the tray full, eat half, put rest back in fridge (ok I don’t do that all that often).

You’ve more chance of choking on it.

Science says the spores are widespread in many foods (and also eg soil) and basically cannot be destroyed reliably by cooking. Science also says the variety associated with rice is primarily associated with vomiting and the diarrheal type is distinct.

What science does not explain is why so many people seem to be fixated on it as something to worry about. I think you have to consider social factors to explain that.

I, too, have been eating reheated rice for most of my adult life and I seem to have avoided dying too much so far.

MSG (Don’t frown or scowl!) also works well

It is an essential seasoning. Once you have a pot of it in the house you will find many recipes that it will improve with its delicious umami edge.

Brown rice? Really? just toss some bran or cardboard shavings into regular rice and enjoy the same effect. I’m not a brown rice fan.

Aside from the aberration of brown rice, @Tom-B made the good point that Basmati does not make great fried rice and that long grain is better. Agreed. Also, sushi rice does not fry well at all – as you’d expect. Any particular brands for long grain, or even a better rice type choice for fried rice, that folks recommend?

always found a tad of fish sauce works well with fried rice.

Very interested to hear about the long grain rice suggestion – we always use basmati as I do lots of Asain cooking so always have a big 10kg bag in the house. Next time I do a fried rice I am going to try long grain 🙂

***always found a tad of fish sauce works well with fried rice.***
I haven’t tried it myself (but have occasionally had it on takeaways), but I imagine a bit of oyster sauce would work too.

I, too, have been eating reheated rice for most of my adult life and I seem to have avoided dying too much so far.

As anyone who has ordered a Chinese takeaway with fried rice.

Yes long grain is much better for fried rice, it doesn’t go as soft and fried easier. I’ve forgot the recommend brands, I just use whatever I have available.

Basmati is a long grain rice.

I always wonder the sort of toxins they are referring to

They are referring to toxins produced by Bacillus cerus bacteria.

Well not really, that link tells us about when rice becomes toxic not how toxic it becomes. If you do not follow that advice (and are unlucky and your rice had the spores in it) then it can make you very ill – hospital ill. But it won’t kill you.

A little research will confirm that whilst B. cerus infections are relatively common, in otherwise healthy individuals they are usually self limiting and require nothing more than fluids.  In extreme cases IV fluids may be required.  Would I reheat rice if I was on chemo – maybe not, for the rest of us the issues are not the reheating but the speed of chilling – you want it to pass through the bacteria happy 40-15 deg stages as quickly as possible, the same for all foods you are keeping.

What science does not explain is why so many people seem to be fixated on it as something to worry about. I think you have to consider social factors to explain that.

Like many “myths” they get stated by someone in authority and then repeated.  The risk of B. cerus was (maybe still is) taught on undergrad microbiology courses.  Its academically interesting because of its spore forming behaviour and ability to survive normal cooking processes.  People with microbiology degrees then tell other people that its a terrible risk.  Its like cybersecurity professionals telling my mother not to write passwords in a little book, chemists stressing about benzene fumes in fuel, electricians worrying saying that electrical testing screwdrivers will kill you, A&E Dr’s exagerating the risks of not wearing a polystyrene helmet when nipping to Tesco for a pint of milk and firefighters making people believe their house will burn down if they put the washing on and go to the shops.  Our perception of risk is pretty poor; our awareness of confirmation bias just as bad and our trust in others often misplaced.

I’be been eating reheated leftover takeaway fried rice regularly all my life. Sometimes reheated more than once as I do the tray full, eat half, put rest back in fridge (ok I don’t do that all that often)

(etc)

<slow handclap for the Bear Grylls fans>

Seems to me you’re either actually less stupid than your comments suggest, or pretty lucky with how long you’ve left it.  I mean, do what you like but be careful about what you imply is safe for others to do.

If you store yr cooked rice outside a fridge, or even in one for too many days, B.cereus may desporulate (its spores can withstand the initial boiling of rice in water) and will grow on it.  The toxin (cereulide) appears due to bacterial growth (quantity dependent on strain and temperature / duration of growth).  It is hard to break down using moderate heat that you’d see from simple reheating (typically including making fried rice, hence the commonly used, historically-derived name of the syndrome).  The bacteria are easier to kill and so USUALLY what you get is vomiting shortly after eating, due to the toxin already on the food – if you fail to kill the bacteria you can get growth within the gut and that more commonly leads to diarrhoea, caused by additional toxins produced by growth in the gut.

Yes, you’re correct; the death rice zombie scenario that I specifically brought up and am obsessed with would be unbelievably rare and propably requires a frail “victim”; mea culpa

always found a tad of fish sauce works well with fried rice.

Even better combined with lime juice, garlic, shallots and birds eye chillis to make a quick prik nam pla. Gives a bracing lift to a lot of foods!

Chinese, parents that have owned restaurants and takeaways. This thread is making me laugh out loud. Honestly, every asian person would be dead if we worried about reheating rice. How many billions eat reheated rice in the world? I’m still not dead (obvious)ly and I’ve done been eating reheated rice all my life, as have every other Chinese person I know. As for fried rice everyone has a different method, just use that one that you like. Use cold long grain rice, cooled as it stops it from sticking and provides the best results. I like to throw in some thinly sliced ginger and a few finely sliced chilli’s too.

Keep up the good work and the scarmongering!

Right so to recap.

Hot wok, cold rice, veg oil, spring onion, when does the egg go in?

For me when the rice is hot, I make bowl in the middle and cook it like scrambled egg then mix in the rice.

Plenty of good suggestions for fried rice, all good even the one with “drain it” LOL.  I still remember the time my Japanese friend and I observed my other British flatmates cooked rice with amazement, and we were grinning from ear to ear for entertainment. The result was half cooked rice that we ate politely. (we didn’t want to LOL like a d**k to our flatmates or destroy their confidence in cooking).  We just politely told them to cook/boil it longer so the rice is 95% cooked with no hard bits.

Mind you one of my late uncle in the far east actually preferred to eat rice that is actually 3/4 cooked with the “drain it” texture.  My late aunt and cousins had to cook the rice separately just for him.  When I told them the British “drain it” rice, he was very happy (found the entire British nation cooking like him) and kept using the “drain it” rice texture to wind up his family. LOL

I have eaten the best fried rice in my life (in my home town of course) as well as those experimental ones.  As far as fried rice is concerned there really is No one best way.  Fried rice for us is just a way to not waste food.  There are so many ways of cooking fried rice nobody really can claim theirs are the original.  As long as it tastes good, regardless how you cook it, you have achieved the result.

I have watched so many fried rice clips on YouTube (just to see what the fuss is all about), and all I can say is that  there really is no one best way.    My late father can cook his fried rice by using just 4 ingredients (rice, shallots, eggs and salt) and it taste wonderful.  Similar attempt by me taste very different (always a hint of bitterness in the rice … I know I mess up a bit).

Right so to recap.

Hot wok, cold rice, veg oil, spring onion, when does the egg go in?

1. Hot wok  (turbo wok with jet flame is the best but that’s for professionals)

2. Cook ingredients: shallots, garlic, bacon etc whatever you like to create the based of the aroma or taste. (the YouTube of Uncle Roger is SE Asia style fried rice due to the ingredients used)

3. Don’t overcooked the ingredients or you will end up with bitter fried rice (like me).

4. Pour in the rice and keep stirring until “dry-ish” or the rice is separated.

5. Next … the eggs.  Depending on your style of cooking …

Eggs can go in before or after depending on your style of cooking.

Restaurant style (with jet turbo flame):  The Chinese (China), HK and Japanese will put the egg in first.  Once the egg is cooked half way, the rice go in in order to “coat” the rice (sometimes not totally coated and more like yellow bits colouring the rice separately) .  This way you don’t have to spend your time “stirring” and cooking until they “dry up”.

Home cooking not in much hurry (without F-16 jet turbo flame):  Rice in first and when almost “dry” 0r rice separated nicely, pour in the egg and start stirring to coat the rice (at medium flame) until all the rice is coated and separated.

Remember:

No Olive oil (pork fat the best)

Don’t over cooked the based ingredients (unless you like bitter fried rice)

Keep stirring until rice is separated nicely (hence over night rice is better because they have harder texture).

Fried in smaller batches unless you have 30 inch wok. LOL

Once you master the basic, you can create your own custom fried rice by experimenting by adding different ingredients … too many to list.

As long as your fried rice is not bitter (like mine) you have succeeded.

Surely Basmati rice has no place in these recipes. Why is it even mentioned?

Surely Basmati rice has no place in these recipes. Why is it even mentioned?

Type of rice is not really that important.

You just need to adjust the ingredients accordingly to make it tastes good.

The best fried rice is judged by the separation of the grains and the coating of the rice from the ingredients.  The rice must not be too soft or hard.

p/s: I just finished cooking my fried rice in less than 10 mins using ingredients from my stir fried chicken and cabbage from yesterday.  I also used duck egg. Taste good.

Right, time to put my long grain rice on to steam in readiness for tonight’s special fried rice (chicken and king prawns). I also find that really cheap peas are best (think supermarket ‘value’ ranges) – they are bigger and have a nicer bite with a slightly bitter taste rather than sweet.

Still undecided on whether to cook the rice in chicken stock or not (I used to add crumbled chicken stock whilst frying but stopped doing that as I wasn’t sure of the taste at times, but I see how steaming in it would improve the flavour of the rice).