Chinese Take Out White Rice Food

CHINESE WHITE RICE

Steps:

• (The 2 cups in an arbitrary measurement so that I can get the servings/yield number---this is really more of a method, so you can make as much rice as you need -- just use about half as much rice as you want for a finished product.).
• Pour desired amount of rice into a pot with a good fitting lid (rice must cover bottom of pan and should be an inch or more deep, so use the proper sized pot for amount of rice you are cooking).
• Cover rice several inches with water.
• Stir rice and water with your hand. Water will turn milky (this is the extra starch coming off the rice).
• Pour water off the rice using your hand or the lid to keep rice in the pot.
• Repeat rinsing and draining two more times. Water should be clear on last rinse.
• Cover rice with clean cold water to the depth of your first knuckle with the tip of your pointer finger touching the top of the rice (this will be a bit less than an inch).
• Put pot on stove and turn burner to high.
• Bring to a boil, uncovered, and continue boiling until tunnels form from the steam coming through the rice - most of the water will no longer be visible. (Looks like someone poked it several times with a drinking straw).
• Cover pot with lid and turn stove down to low.
• Keep covered and cook for 30 minutes more.
• Uncover and fluff up a few grains to test to see if it's done.
• If necessary, cover and cook for a few more minutes.
• When done, fluff rice with fork and serve.
• If you're making fried rice, it's best to use day old rice so put this in the fridge after it has cooled a bit and enjoy it tomorrow!

CHINESE TAKE-OUT WHITE RICE

Steps:

• Pour the rice into a mesh strainer and run cold water through the rice while stirring it around with your hand. This washes the excess starch from the rice.
• When the water runs clear, combine the rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 2 minutes, then cover and reduce the heat to low.
• Cook the rice for 18 minutes, remove it from the heat, and let it rest with the cover on for 5 minutes.
• Serve immediately.
• Tip: to reheat rice, place it in a metal colander or mesh strainer set over 1 inch boiling water in a large pot. Cover the pot and steam the rice for 5 minutes.
• Do not refrigerate cooked rice unless you plan on using it for fried rice, rice pudding, etc. Refrigerated rice becomes hard and never regains it's fluffy texture after being chilled.
• Cooked rice can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

CHINESE TAKE-OUT FRIED RICE

Steps:

• Heat 2 Tblsp of the oil in a wok or frying pan set over medium heat. Add the shrimp, ham, and peas and cook 1 minute. Add the soy sauce and transfer to a plate to keep warm.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon oil in the pan. Add the eggs, green onions, salt & pepper.
• Scramble the eggs in the pan. Once this mixture comes together in clumps, add the rice, shrimp mixture, and rice wine. Adjust the seasoning with soy sauce or salt & pepper. Serve hot.
• Feel free to saute cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, or diced carrots along with the shrimp, ham and peas.
• Use cold leftover rice only. This recipe won't work well with freshly cooked rice. It will be mushy and stick to the pan, a real mess.

CHINESE TAKE-OUT SWEET AND SOUR PORK

Steps:

• Place the cubes pork in a medium bowl, add in 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon soy sauce; using clean hands toss well to combine, then add in 1 egg white and toss once again.
• Mix in chopped green onion; cover and refrigerate for 1 or more hours.
• heat 1 quart of oil to 365 degrees F in a large heavy pot or in an electric deep-fryer.
• Remove the pork from the fridge and toss with 1/2 cup cornstarch.
• fry the pork in hot oil about 8 minutes or until evenly browned (do not over crowd the pot fry in 2 batches or three if necessary) drain on paper towels or on a rack.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large wok over medium heat; stir in bell pepper strips, onion and crushed chil flakes; stir fry until just tender, then season with 1/4 teaspoon sugar and salt to taste; remove from heat and set aside.
• For the sweet and sour sauce; in a large skillet or saucepan combine 1 cup water with 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup and 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce; bring to a boil.
• Stir in the cooked pork along with green pepper/onion mixture, pineapple chunks along with the juice from the can; return to a simmer.
• In a small bowl whisk 1/4 cup cold water with 2 tablespoons cornstach until smooth; add into the simmering mixture and cook stirring until bubbly and thickened.
• Sprinkle top with a small amount of sesame seeds if desired, then serve with cooked rice.

CHINESE RESTAURANT FRIED RICE

Steps:

• Cook your rice (I use a rice cooker). You want it a bit on the crunchy side, so even though you might want to add more water, DON'T.
• Let your rice cool completely (I spread it out on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer if I'm in a hurry). You can even cook your rice the night before and let cool in the fridge.
• Heat a wok over high heat with 1 tbs. of oil. Add eggs and scramble until cooked. Add ham and peas and fry for about a minute.(You can add or omit any veggie/meat combo you want.).
• Remove omelet from wok. Clean the wok out a bit so the leftover egg doesn't burn while you're heating up your wok and oil again.
• Add remaining oil to the wok and heat over high heat until it is very hot. Add your cold rice to the wok and stir to coat every grain. (You can add some more oil if you want; it just depends on how greasy you like it.).
• Add your chicken stock to the rice; do it a little bit at a time to give the rice a chance to soak up the liquid. I'm not sure exactly the amount of stock to be added; I eyeball it because it seems to change every time. Basically, you want the rice to soak up the flavor, but you don't want to put in too much as it will end up quite sticky.
• Stir fry for a while, stirring constantly until there is no liquid left, then chop up your omelet and add it, along with the soy sauce and salt. Stir. You can add more or less soy sauce and salt according to your taste. NOTE: In this case, the salt is simply to enhance the flavor of the dish, not to make it salty. And remember that soy sauce is salty in itself--unless you use the salt-free or low-salt type. (It is an MSG substitute.).
• Enjoy! It's the best homemade fried rice you'll ever make!