The Hirshon Authentic Chinese Fried Rice, Yangzhou Style – 扬州炒饭

My beloved and erudite Citizens of TFD Nation – today, it is with supreme joy as a Chinese gastronomy scholar of the First Rank (exemplified by My precious Qing Dynasty Scholar robe sleeve of the aforementioned rank below!) that I share one of the most recognizable dishes in the entire Chinese recipe canon! This is the treasure known occasionally as “Young Jewel” fried rice and far more properly as “Yangzhou fried rice”! It is My honor to share the ULTIMATE version of this magnificent recipe with you all now, replete with its history and proper place in the gastronomic firmament of the East!

Yangzhou fried rice, also known by several other spellings and names, is a popular Chinese wok-fried rice dish. There are many varieties but it most properly describes egg fried rice with mixed vegetables and two forms of protein, typically pork and shrimp with scallions. I have shared many different versions of Chinese and Southeast Asian fried rice recipes over the ten years of writing this blog – see them all by clicking here.

Yangzhou fried rice is pronounced Yángzhōu chǎofàn in Mandarin or joeng4 zau1 caau2 faan6 in Cantonese – although it did not originate there, it is named for Yangzhou, an ancient city at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal in eastern China. “Yangzhou” is the pinyin romanization devised in the 1950s and very gradually introduced across the rest of the world. The dish is also frequently known as Yangchow fried rice from the same name’s Postal Map form and also as Yeung Chow fried rice from irregular romanization of its Cantonese pronunciation.

The same dish is also known in the UK as “special fried rice” and in Australia and New Zealand as “combination fried rice”. Less often, it is known in the United States as “house fried rice”. The difference between Yangzhou fried rice and ordinary fried rice is that Yangzhou style invariably includes a combination of proteins. Rather than using a single protein like shrimp or pork or chicken as the dominant ingredient in fried rice, Yangzhou uses a variety. Most commonly used is a combination of pork and shrimp; roasted or boiled chicken and duck are also found.

Ordinarily, some of its staple items include:

• Rice
• Egg
• Diced Chinese-style roast pork (char siu)
• Shrimp
• Chopped scallions, including the green end
• Vegetables such as Chinese broccoli (gai lan), lettuce, carrots, peas, corn, and bamboo shoots
• The peas may be a replacement or an addition for the green onions
• Some recipes include Shaoxing wine

Yangzhou fried rice, also sometimes called Young chow fried rice, gets its name from the city of Yangzhou in China’s Jiangsu province, where one story says that sailors started to put leftover scraps from their lunch into fried rice for dinner. Others say that the dish actually originated in Guangzhou. Whatever its origins, this dish is beloved worldwide for its colorful and balanced mixture of delicious ingredients.

The core ingredients in a traditional Yangzhou fried rice recipe are Cantonese and generally pork, shrimp, vegetables, and eggs, but traditional versions may also include chicken, sea cucumber, bamboo shoots, and scallops, reflecting how Yangzhou was an extremely wealthy city with a very powerful merchant class who used this recipe to showcase their wealth. Most culinary historians believe Yangzhou fried rice was first popularized by the Qing official Yi Bingshou (1754–1815), who had previously been the prefect of Yangzhou and is also traditionally credited for Yi mein.

Still, there have been attempts by people in Yangzhou to patent the dish even though it is NOT originally from there. In October 2015, as part of the 2,500th anniversary of the town of Yangzhou, an attempt was made in Yangzhou at beating the previous world record for fried rice set in 2014 by the Turkey culinary federation. The attempt, made by the World Association of Chinese Cuisine resulted in 4,192 kilograms (9,242 lb) of Yangzhou fried rice being produced by a team of 300 cooks.

In making proper fried rice in the Chinese gastronomic fashion, it is imperative to consider each ingredient in the recipe from a textural, color and flavor perspective. For example, when using vegetables, be aware of their water content. If you use vegetables that release a lot of water while cooking, such as leafy greens, your fried rice may turn wet and soggy. In general, most or all of your ingredients should be about the same size, for ease of cooking and eating, so slice and dice in the apropos fashion! The lettuce used in this recipe falls into that watery category, and is thus folded in after cooking.

It is a common belief in China that lettuce is a symbol for wealth and good luck and China is in fact the world’s largest producer of lettuce producing ½ of the world’s total supply, both the Western leafy version as well as the stem-centric variety developed in China and especially beloved there. It is a festive food during birthdays, New Year’s Day and several other festive occasions. China first started growing lettuce in the seventh century, according to one source, although another source writes that lettuce was introduced earlier, in the fifth century. It is not clear how lettuce got to China.

The exceptional guide.michelin.com has an entire blog entry on how Michelin-starred Chefs make their fried rice – I share the excerpted version of that article with you here:

There is no clear history of the origins of fried rice, although it is widely accepted that it was created and documented in the eastern city of Yangzhou, China somewhere around the 6th century AD. However, the southern province of Guangdong lays claim to the style that is most likely known worldwide, as its Cantonese diaspora spread it far and wide. Rice is a staple grain of the southern provinces like Guangdong, so it makes sense that leftover rice fried with various ingredients would develop in popularity as an easy, economical everyday dish.

We asked homegrown Singapore talents Martin Foo of MICHELIN Plate Crystal Jade Golden Palace and chef-founder Ang Song Kang of one MICHELIN star Chef Kang’s and Bib Gourmand Chef Kang’s Noodle House to clear the air on the definitive, perfect fried rice and how to recreate it at home. (Banner image: Crystal Jade fried rice with conpoy and egg white)

Chef Foo, who is also group executive chef of Crystal Jade Culinary Holdings, says, “Generally, fried rice is well-loved by young and old so there are inevitably many iterations on this dish throughout China. Here in Singapore, most Cantonese restaurants serve a version which usually consists of prawns, char siew, eggs, spring onions and raw lettuce among others and this rendition is probably most recognisable.”

He sees it as a dish that every Chinese cook apprentice should master, along with sweet and sour pork and braised ee-fu noodles. “There are many skills required to execute fried rice. This ranges from grasping the amount of oil and when to add the oil appropriately at which stage of cooking, mastering the use of the Chinese ‘wok shovel’; rounded and flat ones, and seasoning,” he expounds.

Chef Ang was just 13 and starting as an apprentice chef when he first tried his hand at fried rice. “My head chef told me to cook it and taste my own dish – that’s the way to learn,” he reminisces. “I was too young to really lift the wok, so I learnt all the other basics like washing vegetables, cleaning, cutting and tending the live fish tanks, while all the time watching the chefs to see how they cooked. 

What should the perfect fried rice look, smell and taste like?
ASK: At the first bite, you will realise the chef’s skills (or lack of) when tasting the rice. It must have wok hei (breath of the wok) fragrance to draw you in, the rice grains are individual and cooked to the right texture, and it cannot be too oily or dry. When done right, you don’t even need many ingredients to improve the flavour of the dish.

MF: There are a few key things I look out for: it should have wok hei, moist but not wet grains of rice, the egg should coat the rice grains, and not be too oily – it should not leave a stain on the lips.

Can you use any kind of rice?
ASK: The typical Thai jasmine rice from any supermarket is fine, which you must cook the day before. 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. It’ll be a wasted effort.

MF: I personally prefer aged rice from Thailand. Aged rice refers to rice that has been kept for about a year before it is released for sale. Typically, we get an annual shipment of Thai aged rice in September. Thai aged rice has a lower starch content and therefore absorbs less water during the cooking process and is firmer. It also possesses a more intense ‘rice flavour’ and aroma that new rice lacks. A tip for cooking rice for fried rice is to use about 1kg aged rice to 850g water with about 50g of vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Can you use a non-stick pan instead of a wok at home?
ASK: Yes, you can use a non-stick pan at home which is more convenient. You still need to use some oil to coat the rice grains, and set the fire to as high as you can at home to achieve some wok hei. It must be hot enough to make the rice ‘jump’ in the pan. You know you have made good fried rice when you reach this stage.

MF: Yes, it does make the frying process easier since the rice is less likely to stick to the pan. It is important to note that rice is best fried over high heat until the rice dries up and ‘jumps’ around in the pan – as such, frying rice in a wok over a flame will definitely work better since you can crank up the heat and create that wok hei.

What’s your sequence of ingredients into the pan?
ASK: I add the oil, it can be vegetable oil or pork lard (I prefer the latter), then pour in the beaten egg to scramble without overcooking. The rice is added into the simmering egg mixture to be coated so you can see it’s turning a beautiful yellow colour. Add the remaining ingredients and fry patiently until the rice is dry and starting to ‘jump’ in the pan.

MF: At our restaurant, we first fry the rice in oil then add beaten eggs so that each grain of rice is coated with egg and takes on a golden yellow hue so that it resembles an auspicious ‘mound of gold’. The rest of the ingredients are then added to mix thoroughly. Spring onions and raw lettuce strips are added last so that they retain their freshness and crunch. Raw ingredients such as prawn are cooked separately and then added. Once the rice grains are fried till dry and ‘jumping’ around in the wok, the dish is ready.

How about essential seasonings and ingredients?
ASK: I have stopped using salt and instead I substitute fish sauce for its umami and salty flavour. You can add any ingredients like prawn, lap cheong (Chinese sausage) but I like a bit of minced beef and XO chilli sauce in my home cooked version. Hua tiao chiew (Chinese rice wine) is used in restaurants as it works well with the high heat cooking to bring out a deeper fragrance, but at home, your fire will not be high enough to ‘activate’ the hua tiao chiew, so you won’t get the same effect. I’d say it’s not necessary.

MF: For seasonings: salt, chicken powder, sugar and good quality soy sauce. For ingredients: diced prawns, char siew, spring onions and raw lettuce.

What should you never do when making fried rice?
ASK: Don’t overcook your rice or cook it with too much water. The grains will absorb too much water internally and stick together, and won’t separate when frying no matter how hot the pan.

MF: You should never add more oil during the frying process because the rice grains will not absorb the additional oil and you will end up with an oily plate of fried rice with residual oil at the bottom of the plate.

Most of the ingredients in Yangzhou fried rice are easily obtained – a few are significantly less so (these are the old-school luxury items usually left out of modern versions of the classic recipe – I have (of course) returned them to their rightful seats in the East (IYKYK). I also refuse to skimp on the classic methodologies for how to cook and prepare each ingredient – and as a result, neither shall the loyalists of TFD Nation!

Marinating the shrimp in heavily-salted water to firm them up and give them a proper tsui (crisp) texture is critical, as is marinating them once more after that with the classic seasonings. It also means you should be stir-frying the ingredients in lard, the way the Jade Emperor of the East commands! Traditionally in Japan, this recipe would use Jinhua or Yunnan country hams, but they just aren’t available in this country. The good news is you CAN get exceptional country ham made here in the United States in the classic manner combining time, salt and smoke – TFD recommends this slice of exceptional ham!

Dried Chinese scallops are expensive and hard to find outside of Chinatown herbal or dried seafood stores – you can mercifully find top-quality Japanese dried scallops here on Amazon. As much as TFD strives for historical accuracy in ALL His recipes, even I balk at dealing with dried sea cucumber, as it takes 3 days to rehydrate properly and your guests may balk at eating it (shame on them, if true!). I instead call for the still-luxurious but similar in texture sea scallops instead. Dried shiitake mushrooms of top quality (known as “flower-style” with their thick, cracked caps) may be purchased from here on Amazon.

I ask you to reserve the dried mushroom and dried scallop soaking liquids to add further savor into the cooked fried rice and if you follow My instructions with precision, you WILL end up with perhaps the best fried rice you will ever sample in your life! Always remember – use day-old rice, do NOT color the rice brown with soy sauce and control the water content with skill and you will have TRIUMPHED! This is not an everyday fried rice – save the Yangzhou version for a special occasion!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

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