Best Rice for Fried Rice

The key for making a good fried rice is the rice. What kind of rice should we use and how to cook it?
Type
Choose the long grain white rice such as: Basmati and Jasmine rice.Some long grain rice has softer cooking texture, similar in texture to short grain rice. Basmati and Jasmine rice is the best type. Their texture are soft and sticky for new crop, very similar to soft short grain rice in term of texture. Rice will tend to be more loose and separated when it turn old crop with texture is a little more chewy, ideal for making the fried rice.

How to Cook
You can't make fried rice with freshly cooked rice. The best rice to use is leftover rice that's been lying in the fridge for at least a day. This will turn the grains firm and get rid of the excess moisture. They will also be much easier to separate. If you cook with freshly-made rice, all you will get is "fried mush" instead of fried rice. Okay, first boil the rice with medium water, medium heat and short cooking time. After parcooked, steamed the rice with a steamer, then chill in a room temperature. Store it in a large, covered bowl overnight in the refrigerator or at least three hours in the freezer. If you can't wait a day to eat fried rice, at least let the rice cool for a few hours in an airy spot.If you are ready to make the fried rice, loosen the rice with a fork until all the grains have been separated completely. Dont forget to stick the fork under cold running water after every three to four pokes into the rice.

Fried Rice History

Fried rice (Simplified Chinese: 炒饭; Traditional Chinese: 炒飯; Pinyin: chǎofàn) is a popular component of Chinese cuisine and, by extension, various other forms of Asian cuisine. The fried rice originated as a home made dish from China, made from cold leftover rice fried with other leftover ingredients. Fried rice is sometimes served as the penultimate dish in Chinese banquets (just before dessert).

There are dozens of varieties of fried rice, each with their own specific list of ingredients. In Asia, the more famous varieties include Yangchow (Yangzhou) and Fukien (Fujian) fried rice. In the West, Chinese restaurants catering to non-Chinese clientele have invented their own fried rice's varieties of fried rice including egg fried rice, Singaporean (spicy) fried rice and the ubiquitous 'special fried rice'.

Fried rice is a common staple in American Chinese cuisine, especially in the westernized form sold at fast-food stands. The most common form is a basic fried rice, often with some mixture of eggs, scallions, and vegetables, with chopped meat (usually pork or chicken, sometimes beef or shrimp) added at the customer's discretion. Fried rice is also seen in other American Asian restaurants, even in cuisines where there is no native tradition of the dish such as the Caribbean.

Fried rice is usually made from rice which has already been cooked by steaming. The wok is heated until it starts smoking, with some oil. Rice is stirred quickly and uniformly to prevent burning, and to coat the rice grains with oil to prevent sticking. After 1-2 minutes the rice is flavored to taste and stirred throughly, then the other ingredients are added.