Char Siew Fried Rice & Cabbage

Hungry for fried rice?!?! Select the best char siew for the golden fried rice...

Char Siew is a common traditional ingredient use for adding taste and meaty content bites out of a boring plate of fried rice. It can be stored and kept in a fridge for at most 2 to 3 days.

Selecting good char siew for the cooking can enhance the flavour in the food, and this common ingredient will soon be transform into an admirable lead ingredient.

Selection

Char Siew:
1) Select 'fatty' Char Siew. On a fatty char siew, the outer reddish part of its texture should be softer than a non-fatty one. (A non-fatty Char Siew's meat looks tough and hard) And when cut, there is a transparent whitish layer in between the inner meat & the outer meat (reddish part). - this reveals that it belongs to the fatty Char Siew.

2)  Select Char Siew that are charbroiled instead of fried. Char siew that is charbroiled has black burnt patches on its outer reddish skin, whereas fried Char Siew has a deeper red colour than the fatties one and without those dark charcoaled-burnt black patches.

Cabbage:
Choose Beijing cabbage (smaller in size) for cooking. The China cabbage (bigger in size) is most suitable for cooking with soup or using as the main ingredient for making popiah. [Note: China cabbage is harder and will takes longer time to smother]


Recipe (Serves 5)

Preparation:

• Store leftover rice / or prepare cooked rice a day before and store in fridge. Overnight rice tends to look and taste better as each grain of rice will be separated well (most individually), and does not result in sticky clumps, thus performance in taste will be raised.
  
  
  

Ingredients:

• Rice (Uncooked - 3 1/2 plastic cups) / Overnight rice

[Note: personal selection is Pagoda Rice (皇族安培娜香米)
$13.80 - 5kgs, $24.80 - 10kgs]

[Note: cooked rice (sealed or covered) can be kept in fridge for 2-3 days]

• Char Siew ($3)

• Cabbage ($1 / 1 whole)

• Eggs (5, beaten added with 1 1/2 teaspoons of light soy sauce and tiny pinch of ajinomoto)

Frying Rice

• Oil (4 tablespoons) [Note: When frying rice, it should not be over oily]
• Garlic (5 cloves)
• Fine Salt (1 tablespoon)
• Ajinomoto (1/3 teaspoon)

Frying Cabbage

• Oil (3 tablespoons)
• Garlic (4 cloves)
• Fine Salt (1 teaspoon)
• Ajinomoto (1/3 teaspoon)

Method

Prepare wok for frying rice:

1. Heat wok and oil (small heat), fry garlic until fragrance / semi-golden.

2. Add Cooked Rice into the wok and fry. (Use high heat)

3. Add eggs and stir-fried until even golden yellow. (Usually the rice will form small clumps after adding eggs, press and flatten the rice using the turner)

4. Add Char Siew.

5. Add Salt and ajinomoto. Taste.

6. The rice is ready when it is jumping/popping on the wok (by the side, or in the middle of the wok).

7. Ladled rice and place into cooker to keep warm.

Prepare wok for frying vegetables:

1. Heat oil and wok and fry garlic. (Small heat)

2. Fry vegetables until soften. (Medium Heat) Turn off fire at approx. 15 mins.

Ready to serve.

Note: The cabbage is a good complement to the fried rice.

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Best regards,

Bee Tai Bak / 'Mi Tai Mu' (米台目) Chinese Rice Noodle in Spicy Dry Version

Have we not tried before this Bee Tai Bak (米台目) at any hawker centre or coffeeshop selling fishball or minced meat noodle store?

Yes for the soupy version, but presumedly the dry version only at stores selling fried bee hoon or mixed vegetable rice (什菜饭).

So far, I've never seen or tasted the dry & spicy version. This delectable dish is what we desired in most afternoon during our lunch at home.

It's cheap & tastiness guaranteed! For about $3 for 3 persons serving, this is how its prepare.

Recipe (Serves 3)

Ingredients:

• Bee Tai Bak ($1 or per packet)
• Green vegetables (Xiao Bai Cai / 'Bak Choy' 小白菜) ($0.70 per pkt /$1.10 for 2 pkts) / (Or Bean sprouts)
• Fishball ($1 per pack) / (Minced meat or, & Prawn based on personal likings)
• Shrimps (2 tablespoons)
• Chilli Padis (8 strips)

• Salt (To taste)
• Ajinomoto (added on preference)
• Dark Soy Sauce (2 tablespoons)
• Oil / (Pork lard with Oil) (approx. 7-8 tblespns)
• Water (one pot)

Method

1. Pound Chilli Padis and Shrimps together until semi-fine.

2. Wash & Cut Vegetables. Heat a wok of water and boil vegetables for approx. 3 mins (Cook in hot water but not in boiling bubble form). Ladlen up vegetables and place aside. (If using bean sprouts - this step is not required)

3. Heat wok & Oil. When heated, fry the pounded Chillis & Shrimps to fragrance using small medium heat. (approx. 1-2 mins)

4. Add Bee Tai Bak and stir-fry.

6. Place in Fishballs & Vegetables to wok. (Alternatively, prawns or bean sprouts here)

7. Add Dark soy sauce to wok.

8. Lastly, sprinkle salt to taste. Add ajinomoto, if you prefer.

It doesn't matter if this dish should be only serve hot. This spicy dry Bee Tai Bak is definitely simple to prepare, less effort taken and wham....a dish prepared in mins....a something else from the usual maggi mee stuffs. Yes, there should be a tad bit of oiliness in it; as a component of its tasty factor. Try it & like it!

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Best regards,