Ingredients
Units
Scale
- Marinated shrimp:
- 4 oz. shrimp: shelled, deveined, rinsed and leave in heavily-salted water for ten minutes, drain and dry, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. regular brewed soy sauce (Kikkoman brand is a safe choice)
- 3/4 tsp. oyster sauce (TFD endorses ONLY Megachef brand from Thailand, found on Amazon)
- 1/2 tsp. sesame oil (TFD endorses ONLY Kadoya brand from Japan)
- 1/2 tsp. Shaoxing rice wine or dry Sherry
- 1/2 tsp. ginger juice
- Pinch of freshly-ground white pepper
- ***
- 3 eggs, beaten with pinch of white pepper and 1/8 tsp. salt
- 5 Tbsp. lard (strongly preferred) or peanut oil
- 1/2 Tbsp. fat from Yunnan, country ham or Smithfield ham
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 slice fresh ginger
- 1 3/4 cups cooked rice, cooked in advance, spread onto a plate and put in the fridge overnight and then brought to room temperature (this reduces the water content in the rice and adds gloss and shine)
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp. regular soy sauce
- 3 scallions: discard both ends, wash, dry, slice finely
- 1 oz. dried scallops, rehydrated in hot chicken stock for two hours (reserve the stock when finished) (TFD note: the original recipe calls for these and it’s better with it, but if you can’t find them, replace with fresh scallops)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 oz. fresh scallops, cubed into small pieces (TFD change from original of rehydrated sea cucumber)
- 1 oz. boiled chicken breast meat, cubed into small pieces
- 1 oz. Yunnan ham (if you can find it!), Smithfield ham, or country ham, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes, removed, dried off off and cubed into small pieces
- 1 oz. dried shiitake with thick, cracked caps, stems snipped off with scissors and rehydrated in hot chicken stock for two hours (reserve the stock when finished), cubed into small pieces
- 1 oz. peeled carrot, cubed into small pieces
- 1 cup finely-diced char siu (Chinese roast pork)
- 1 oz. frozen peas, defrosted
- 1 oz. canned bamboo shoots, cubed into small pieces
- 1 oz. finely-shredded butter lettuce or a similar soft variety
Instructions
- Make the rice the day before, following the instructions in the ingredients section. Be sure to take the overnight rice out of the fridge before starting 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.
- Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms and dried scallops 2 hours ahead. Squeeze the mushroom to remove the stock and dice finely. Put the rehydrated dried scallop into a small blender to blend for 10 seconds or until it becomes nice and fluffy. Set both diced mushrooms and dried scallop aside.
- Put the ham and chicken breast into a bowl along with a drizzle of Chinese cooking wine. Steam for 20 minutes. Save the steaming liquid for later use. Dice the ham and chicken finely.
- Marinate shrimp for 30 minutes. Dice the rehydrated sea cucumber (or fresh sea scallop) and marinated fresh shrimp and set aside
- Blanch the bamboo shoots, carrot, peas in boiling water for about 40 seconds. Set them aside.
- Stir-fry separately, and reserve, in this order, the following ingredients. Wash wok and spatula after first 3 fryings.
- Stir-fry beaten eggs in 1 Tbsp. lard and ½ Tbsp. ham fat, until soft but not dry. Remove and reserve.
- Stir-fry char siu with 1 minced garlic clove in 1 Tbsp. lard just until lightly cooked. Remove and reserve.
- Stir-fry the marinated shrimp mixture and the fresh scallops with 1 minced garlic clove, and the slice of fresh ginger, in 1 ½ Tbsp. lard until lightly cooked. Remove and reserve, discarding ginger slice.
- Add ⅛ cup reserved scallop rehydrating stock, ⅛ cup reserved mushroom rehydrating stock and ⅛ cup ham/chicken steaming liquid to wok with 3 ½ Tbsp. Shaoxing or dry Sherry. Reduce to a syrupy glaze, remove and reserve.
- Stir-fry the rice in the wok in 2 Tbsp. lard along with the carrot. Before stir-frying rice, loosen grains with chopsticks or hands so there are no lumps.
- When rice is hot, add pork and mix thoroughly. Add shrimp and mix thoroughly. Add soy sauce, stir in, then add scrambled eggs, which have been broken into small pieces. Add scallions and all remaining ingredients (adjust flavor to your taste with the reserved glaze) and mix very thoroughly.
- Place on a serving platter and serve immediately.
