# making fried rice brown



## gianni123 (Mar 26, 2006)

Hi everybody,
I'm a newbie here. In my house I'm the 'sou chef' to my wife, although I often come up with new ideas and take liberties with recipes. 
As far as Chinese food goes, I make a good hot and sour soup. However, one recipe I've never been able to make the way it is prepared in Chinese take-out (or, as the British say, take-away) is fried rice. I am never able to get the dark brown appearance, even though I use plenty of soy sauce. The white of the rice still shows through. I once used annatto, but that didn't seem to work either. I wonder if it is the reddish pork that usually comes with the fried rice that gives it the color I so like. I'm beginning to suspect that the take-out places use a food dye. 

I hope someone can help me out.
Gianni


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Have you tried adding fish sauce?Or turmeric or maybe curry powder?


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

You can use dark thick soy sauce, although, not all fried rice is brown. Some forego the soy sauce altogether.


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## higjse (Feb 8, 2006)

do you chill your rice first or do you fry it right after steaming or boiling it...?


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## sushigaijin (Apr 12, 2005)

cold rice, ample fat, high heat, a little soy = brown rice.


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## gianni123 (Mar 26, 2006)

Thanks, all, for your suggestions.
Gianni


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## chef kaiser (Mar 12, 2006)

hi,

Well the question is, what is brown, dark brown, light brown. The traditional way is adding a light soy sauce (depending the region and the fried rice). The pork could have an influence, as the traditional chinese BBQ pork was glazed with honey or sugar in the final stage and the fat does disolve some of the color.

regards


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## gianni123 (Mar 26, 2006)

Hi SushiGaijin,

Can you be more specific about the kind of fat. I imagine you mean peanut oil or some such, but I'd like to be sure you don't mean Crisco. (When I was a kid we had a friend that we called Crisco, because he was fat in the can.) 

As Yan from "Yan Can Cook" says,

Gaijin


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## liv4fud (Jul 14, 2005)

Its usually the dark soy sauce (mushroom soy sauce as its sometimes called). Its usually less in sodium content and we usually mix the light (salt-substitute) and dark (color) and add it to the rice for a more uniform color. (usually mixed in equal amounts)

if you see a hole-in-the-wall type of place making fried rice, the ingredient that they keep adding on a regular basis while continuously stirring is dark soy sauce / mushroom soy sauce.


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## gianni123 (Mar 26, 2006)

Thanks very much for your reply. I just went out to buy the dark soy sauce. I went only to one shop and I didn't find it, but I did get a barbecue sauce which is thick and black like roofing sealant. The first ingredient is sugar, the third is soy. 
I have the rice boiling right now. We use my wife's method of boiling rice in lots and lots of water, not just enough so the water covers "the first joint of a finger". It comes out very fluffy. Of course, there is no "singing rice" stuck to the bottom of the pot. I guess my wife figured that if lots of water works for pasta it should also work for rice.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

This is the method favored by Sarah Moulton, too.

I wonder if bead molasses is what turns the rice brown. It wouldn't add saltiness to the rice but would make it dark brown and somewhat sweet.


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## chef kaiser (Mar 12, 2006)

hi, 

this type of soy sauce is commonly used by the Japanese, when they make their fried rice and it is darker. however when refering to chinese fried rice in general, especially in the cantonese cuisine the rice is not dark brown. Well at least back here in Asia. Will post a recipe, when i am back form work. 

regards have a nice day


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## skilletlicker (Aug 19, 2005)

In addition to the Soy some Hoisin sauce helps. I don't cook Chinese much but I do like fried rice.

I've also added Worcestershire, more for flavor than browning but contributes to both. As I type this I'm wondering about Worcestershire and molasses in addition to the soy. Certainly not ethnically authentic but...


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## headless chicken (Apr 28, 2003)

Some of the colour will come from the wok, the rest will come from either dark soy or oyster sauce and add near the end of cooking. Besides, fried rice shouldn't be dark dark brown but very light brown. If you want that dark brown colour, I recommend you steam your rice with a little soy sauce and add oyster sauce when making fried rice. Should help a little.


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## gianni123 (Mar 26, 2006)

I made the rice yesterday. For the amount of rice I used I put too much oil in the pan and I also used too much of the barbecue sauce. It certainly came out much darker than what I had hoped for. It tasted too greasy while it was hot, but my wife liked it a lot after it had cooled off.

I'm going to experiment by steaming the rice, that is using a minimal amount of water, and add the barbecue sauce during the simmering process.


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## scott123 (Dec 23, 2003)

The rice needs to be more than just chilled/cold. It should be refrigerated overnight.

The starch in rice takes time in the fridge to retrograde for the proper consistency of fried rice.

Steam the rice, let it cool, refrigerate overnight.

Besides refrigerating the rice, you'll want to track down a good recipe for char siu pork. Fried rice just isn't fried rice without it.


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## chef kaiser (Mar 12, 2006)

hi,

As promissed, a base recipe the way we cook it out here in Asian. The method is stir - fried.

Ingredients
Specifications
Units
Quantity
Cooked Rice
Cold

Kg
1.000
Chinese Sausage
Sliced small, blanched

Kg
0.250
Green Peas
Frozen, blanch before using

Kg
0.200
Lettuce
Iceberg, washed and dried

Kg
0.100
Shrimp
Washed & de-veined

Kg
0.150
Soy Sauce
Dark soy sauce

Ml
40
White pepper
Ground

Kg
0.005
Eggs
Fresh, approx. 50 grams per piece

Pcs
5
Spring Onion
Washed, finely chopped

Kg
0.100
Garlic
Peeled, chopped

Kg
0.030
Oil
Corn oil

Ml
50
Salt
Iodized

Kg
0.005

*Method: *
· Using a Chinese wok, heat the oil.
· Add garlic and sauté.
· Add the beaten eggs, stirring well. Add the shrimps.
· Add the Chinese sausage and stir well. (or BBQ pork)
· Add the cooked rice into the wok.
· Add the green peas, lettuce, salt and white pepper.
Add the soy sauce and the spring onions. Stir well to evenly distribute the ingredients

you need high heat for this preparation. 

note: BBQ sauce is not the right ingredient. Also i saw someone recommending Hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is served in the chinese for cold roasted appetizers, or when serving pekin duck etc. 

regards and good luck


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## iworkforthem (Mar 15, 2006)

Dark soy sauce might just be the thing you are looking for. :chef:
But did you use 'overnight' rice? And fry the egg first?


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## gianni123 (Mar 26, 2006)

I made steamed rice in the pressure cooker today. That's where you put the rice and water in a small bowl and place that in the pressure cooker with a cup of water. I added one teaspoon of barbecue sauce during the cooking which resulted in a very nice brown color and a slightly 'smoked' flavor. It was convenient in that it takes only a few minutes and there is no need to refrigerate the rice before frying it. Of course a true fried rice should include roasted pork.
Gianni


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## travisbickle (Mar 13, 2006)

I read through all of the exsisting posts up to this point and most of the suggestions revolved around some kind of sauce to bring the "brown" color our friend asked about. The "brown" that you seek comes from method, and not your sauce of choice entirely. Fried rice came from where most things we Westerners think is great...Leftovers! Here's a great tip: Cook off two cups of rice, after you have rinsed it in cold water thoroughly, Chineese style (rice equal proportion to water). It should be sticky, but not starchy-gooey. Lay it out flat and cool it down fast. Allow it to dry out under refigeration. This is key...it must dry out! Now, when you go through your steps to prepare it, your rice will perform. Don't use so much oil and cook over high heat. Stir-fry is fast, hot cooking and it doesn't take much time if your mise en plas are in front of you.


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## chrisli (Jun 3, 2013)

When you stir in the soy sauce in the wok you need to do it gradually to get that overall even effect. Otherwise they'll be blothes and the whiteness comes through.


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## kim kim (Apr 30, 2013)

have you tried frying it in butter and adding seasoning salt


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## lisiepooh (Dec 30, 2012)

Hmmm... I see no one mentioned the way I make my rice brown, so I'll just throw in my two cents. I can't remember where I got this idea, but it works for me.  I use a few beads of blackstrap molasses!


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

Talk about fusion cooking Lisie...Far east meets deep south...Be interesting to know what else you have going on in there. 

Welcome to chef talk by the way. You'll like it here


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

LisiePooh said:


> Hmmm... I see no one mentioned the way I make my rice brown, so I'll just throw in my two cents. I can't remember where I got this idea, but it works for me. I use a few beads of blackstrap molasses!





bughut said:


> Talk about fusion cooking Lisie...Far east meets deep south...Be interesting to know what else you have going on in there.
> 
> Welcome to chef talk by the way. You'll like it here


Actually it's not so much fusion as substitution.

If you don't have kecap-manis (thick sweet soy) you can approximate it by adding molasses to regular soy-sauce.


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## lisiepooh (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks, Bughut! I have been joyfully following so many posts since joining; this is a treasure trove of ideas! I'd have to agree with MichaelGA; I do a lot of substituting or creative cooking due to the fact that I live in Vermont where a lot of the ingredients simply aren't available. I think that has been the biggest impetus in my learning to cook. If it takes an hour round trip to pick up tortillas at the market... time to learn how to make them yourself!


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Use a Wok. I worked for years with 3 good Chinese chefs. They made a light fried rice (slightly yellowish) and a darker one.  Believe it or not they put a shot of Gravy master in it to achieve good color.


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## mhatter-1 (Jan 3, 2013)

I am an avid watcher of The Mind of a Chef, with Anthony Bourdain. This show has a lot of excellent cooks/minds on here and one idea came to memory when I read your post about the pork. You might have to look up the show, but, I believe someone used Hawaiian Punch and Strawberry Mentos, put them into a small pot and boiled until the candy was dissolved. The chef's name that did this is David Chang.


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## mhatter-1 (Jan 3, 2013)

Sushi Gaijin is right.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

I know this is an old thread, but there seems to be a little renewed interest, so I thought I'd share my method since no one has shared a complete method yet, or talked about a couple of the most important ingredients to fried rice, specifically, the type of oil.

Fried rice just isn't the same if you don't use the right oil in my opinion. You need either cottonseed oil (preferred by me) or soy oil, or some combination of the two. They are easy to find if you go to an Asian food store. As already mentioned, you need your rice already cooled, which will also dry it out some too. A wok is great. I use a skillet most the time because I cook in people's homes and most of them don't have a wok, or gas burners. I usually use a 10 or 12 inch non-stick skillet, or an aluminum pan pretreated with oil. I preheat on medium, then turn the skillet up to high just before adding ingredients. First in is the oil. Next is the rice. Most of the browning comes from cooking the rice in the oil. I don't add anything else until the rice is good and hot if this is a "side dish" fried rice. Next, I scoot aside some of the rice and drop down some butter then some chopped garlic. The butter will assist in the browning. Now, on top of the rice, I sprinkle sesame seeds, soy sauce, a little salt and pepper, and sesame oil. Then I toss to distribute and check my oil level. If the rice is sticking to the pan, I might add some more cottonseed oil. Letting the rice sit for a period between stirring or tossing will help to brown it. Both the butter and sesame oil have low flash points so they will assist in browning. I don't really care how "brown" my rice is as a whole, what I am looking for is a good amount of caramelization on the rice, for flavor. The browning is a side effect of the caramelizing, not the goal. When the rice is properly caramelized, I add chopped parsley and toss, then serve.


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## loves2cook76 (Jun 8, 2013)

When I make fried rice I LOVE to use brown rice. It has such a nutty and slightly sweet flavor to it that you hardly need the soy sauce.

I add all kinds of things to my brown rice: chicken, tofu, veggies, or I use it in hash browns. My basic recipe for fried rice is onion, carrots or parsnips, shredded chicken (unless I make strictly veggie), and some spices like chili powder, cumin, a dash of cinnamon, and herbs. I saute it until I can smell the nutty flavor.

Brown rice or Basmati rice are the only two kinds I eat now when it comes to rice...very tasty and nutty/img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

maybe try tamari rather than soy sauce?

add whatever you have on hand, whatever you like

my choices are:

soy sauce

oyster sauce

scrambled eggs

green onions

white onions

spam

char siu or chinese bbq pork

breakfast sausage, a spicy one is good

portuguese hot sausage

teriyaki chicken, diced

diced bacon

diced hot dogs

day old rice that has had a chance to dry out

(sorry) a neutral oil to fry in

sesame oil as a finishing oil, but not for frying, you lose to much flavor (sorry again to disagree)

toasted sesame seeds at the end

another BIG handful of green onions at the end to garnish and give another layer of freshness

(being from Hawaii, we don't add peas and carrots in our fried rice)





  








fried rice and guava chicken 005.JPG




__
kaneohegirlinaz


__
Jun 11, 2013


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## lisiepooh (Dec 30, 2012)

> You need either cottonseed oil (preferred by me) or soy oil, or some combination of the two.


This sounds like it would make a fantastic fried rice! My only worry is that the two oils you suggest are highly GMO. I'm wondering how difficult it would be to find them in an organic form?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I've had no problem making fried rice brown regardless of the oil used. It depends more on what flavor profile you're going for in the fried rice.

Soy and a little dark soy will take care of the most commonly encountered brown fried rice. Bruce Cost does his HangChow fried rice with oyster sauce as well. That adds plenty of brown. Ken Hom does a chicken fried rice with chili bean sauce, probably the darkest fried rice I've had.


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

Where's that bottle of kitchen bouquet when you really need it?


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

LisiePooh said:


> This sounds like it would make a fantastic fried rice! My only worry is that the two oils you suggest are highly GMO. I'm wondering how difficult it would be to find them in an organic form?


I don't place much stock in the worry over GMO food because the science is still very indeterminate on it, but I appreciate wanting to stay away from it just in case.

I have seen organic soy oil in a few grocery stores, but "organic" doesn't guarantee no GMO ingredients. Maybe try Whole Foods? Also, you'd be surprised what you can find in a good Asian market.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Brandon ODell said:


> ...Also, you'd be surprised what you can find in a good Asian market.


I really enjoy using the soy sauce made in Thailand that I just got from a Korean market. Although a bit thinner I really like its flavor.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

DuckFat said:


> Where's that bottle of kitchen bouquet when you really need it?


Bingo !


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Brandon ODell said:


> "organic" doesn't guarantee no GMO ingredients.


Organic *does* mean no GMO: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/05/17/organic-101-can-gmos-be-used-in-organic-products/


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

French Fries said:


> Organic *does* mean no GMO: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/05/17/organic-101-can-gmos-be-used-in-organic-products/


Of course, this presumes that all U.S. producers comply with the USDA regs /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif

Often times "organic" has no relationship to any specific standards, though a certification label does imply conformance with an established standard.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

PeteMcCracken said:


> Often times "organic" has no relationship to any specific standards


I don't understand what that statement means?

There are laws, and there may be some people/corporations breaking the laws, but still the laws are there, and they define what the label "Organic" means. So "organic" has a meaning, and that meaning is defined by the law. And as detailed in the USDA page I linked to, organic means no GMO. Some may use the word organic in an illegal manner, or with a wrong meaning, but that doesn't take away the meaning of the word. If I sell you beef with a label that says "lamb meat", does that mean that the words "lamb meat" have no meanings, and "lamb" has no relationship to a specific animal?

EDIT: right after posting this I stumbled upon the following article which may be an example of what you meant I suppose...? When Organic Isn't Really Organic


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Amerika is a country of LAWS and I'm getting tired of all of the legalistique mumbo jumbo.  B******t.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

It's interesting to me the  concern expressed in fear of  the soy oil.  But no one says anything about the soy sauce, light or dark. The bean paste, the oyster sauce all have soy in them too. Chinese cuisine is suffused in soy. If you want to avoid GMO, good luck with Chinese cuisine. Something like 95% of the soy market is GMO.


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

skilletlicker said:


> In addition to the Soy some Hoisin sauce helps. I don't cook Chinese much but I do like fried rice.


It's not traditional but I too add hoisin. Adds wonderful flavor, but I'm surprised just adding soy doesn't give you the desired color you're looking for... how dark do you want it to get? it's just suppose to be a light tawny-ish color.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...G&biw=1366&bih=598&sei=YyO6Uf_QLPOE0QHp-oDYCQ


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

That's one example.

People do follow laws, at least a large majority do.

Mother Nature, on the other hand, is an entirely different issue.

IIRC, the "Spinach contamination", though not anything to do with GMO, was a result of Mother Nature, not a failure to follow the law.

Standards and laws can establish the guidelines/rules, however, the implementation of those guidelines/rules requires *knowledgeable* implementation by people to insure that Mother Nature doesn't thwart the guidelines/rules.

Effective rules created by man require a solid understanding of Mother Nature's rules, else there will always be something that slips through.

The USDA and FDA in the USA, and the corresponding agencies in other countries, do their best to regulate labeling and food safety, but they are neither omniscient, omnipotent, nor omnipresent. We can only hope they do the best they can with the knowledge they have access to.

IMHO, it is the height of folly to rely totally on "government" to have all the answers /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif


French Fries said:


> I don't understand what that statement means?
> 
> There are laws, and there may be some people/corporations breaking the laws, but still the laws are there, and they define what the label "Organic" means. So "organic" has a meaning, and that meaning is defined by the law. And as detailed in the USDA page I linked to, organic means no GMO. Some may use the word organic in an illegal manner, or with a wrong meaning, but that doesn't take away the meaning of the word. If I sell you beef with a label that says "lamb meat", does that mean that the words "lamb meat" have no meanings, and "lamb" has no relationship to a specific animal?
> 
> EDIT: right after posting this I stumbled upon the following article which may be an example of what you meant I suppose...? When Organic Isn't Really Organic


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

...and now I'm hearing that the definition of "natural" isn't naturally occurring.  Rather, if it's naturally occurring and can be copied in the lab therefore it's natural.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

French Fries said:


> Organic *does* mean no GMO: http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/05/17/organic-101-can-gmos-be-used-in-organic-products/


Here's an excerpt below from your USDA link that explains better what my statement means. The summary is, that unlike pesticides, products labeled "organic" cannot be guaranteed to be GMO free because there is a tolerance for some traces of GMOs in food labeled "organic". They aren't supposed to have GMOs theoretically, but in reality, the FDA does not remove the "organic" label from organic farmers if their food is found to have traces of GMOs. They are simply counseled. With pesticides however, there is zero tolerance. Any trace of pesticide and the "organic" label can't be used.

"Any certified organic operation found to use prohibited substances or GMOs may face enforcement actions, including loss of certification and financial penalties. However, unlike many pesticides, there aren't specific tolerance levels in the USDA organic regulations for GMOs. As such, National Organic Program policy states that trace amounts of GMOs don't automatically mean the farm is in violation of the USDA organic regulations. In these cases, the certifying agent will investigate how the inadvertent presence occurred and recommend how it can be better prevented in the future. For example, they may require a larger buffer zone or more thorough cleaning of a shared grain mill."


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## lisiepooh (Dec 30, 2012)

Brandon ODell said:


> I don't place much stock in the worry over GMO food because the science is still very indeterminate on it, but I appreciate wanting to stay away from it just in case.
> 
> I have seen organic soy oil in a few grocery stores, but "organic" doesn't guarantee no GMO ingredients. Maybe try Whole Foods? Also, you'd be surprised what you can find in a good Asian market.


I certain don't want to belabor the point of GMOs in this fried rice thread; it's a topic unto itself. Agreed, Brandon, there isn't a whole lot of definitive science yet regarding GMOs, so I'll leave it with the simplest way I can think about it. Soy and such crops are being genetically modified to be resistant to the pesticide Round Up. To me, that is practically an advertisement, nay, a guarantee, that those foods are being sprayed with the stuff. So, forgetting the DNA issues, I personally do not want to be serving up Round Up on my dinner table (pesticides, by and large, cannot be "washed off" as they assimilate into the plant).

And, to the second point, "organic" actually does guarantee no GMO ingredients; it's one of the requirements to be labeled "organic". Thanks for the advice on Whole Foods! I can only dream of living near an Asian market, but perhaps its worth a special trip. I had a difficult time the last time I was in one, as a lot of the labels weren't in English


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

LisiePooh said:


> ... (pesticides, by and large, cannot be "washed off" as they assimilate into the plant). ..


This statement is not accurate. Systemic herbicides (plant killers) and pesticides (insect killers) are absorbed into the plant and may be trans located.

A large majority of herbicides and pesticides are NOT systemic and, as a general rule, can be removed by washing.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program: Making Fried Rice Brown /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif

By the way, Glyphosate (Round-Up) is ranked as safe for humans by the EPA


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

I was just thinking that Pete, what were we talking about? Fried rice, right?


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## lisiepooh (Dec 30, 2012)

phatch said:


> It's interesting to me the concern expressed in fear of the soy oil. But no one says anything about the soy sauce, light or dark. The bean paste, the oyster sauce all have soy in them too. Chinese cuisine is suffused in soy. If you want to avoid GMO, good luck with Chinese cuisine. Something like 95% of the soy market is GMO.


Yep, 95% is what I've read as well. Good point, patch. I am sure to buy organic tamari and tofu. Then of course we could always get into the ongoing debate of whether or not soy itself is bad for you... I've read both sides and honestly can't come up with a conclusive answer! Estrogen-like?


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## lisiepooh (Dec 30, 2012)

PeteMcCracken said:


> This statement is not accurate. Systemic herbicides (plant killers) and pesticides (insect killers) are absorbed into the plant and may be trans located.
> 
> A large majority of herbicides and pesticides are NOT systemic and, as a general rule, can be removed by washing.
> 
> ...


Pete, I will take this up with you personally, as I received your message... or "Warning Issued"; I've been carefully formulating my response to you, and these kind people do not need to be subjected to this debate, for sure! It would make an interesting thread elsewhere, though


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

ED BUCHANAN said:


> Use a Wok. I worked for years with 3 good Chinese chefs. They made a light fried rice (slightly yellowish) and a darker one. Believe it or not they put a shot of Gravy master in it to achieve good color.





DuckFat said:


> Where's that bottle of kitchen bouquet when you really need it?


I believe you;re both right. I learned some chinese cooking from Joyce Chen, who had a cooking show, a wonderful restaurant (she introduced americans to mu shi pork) and a cookbook. She said the very same thing about the brown fried rice. She said absolutely don;t use soy to make it brown, but use some sort of gravy master/kitchen bouquet. I actually saw one of these things in the local chinese grocery story (i live on the edge of rome;s chinatown). The soy looks obvious but it;s too strong and overpowering if you put so much in to make it brown like american chinese restaurant fried rice is. She said the yellowish one is "home style" and a way to use up leftobers or to feed someone who came home late.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Another point after cooking the rice in huge army pans in the oven ,it was turned on to sheet pans and let to cool overnight. When you start it must be cold.The Chinese cooks told me this way the rice does not get gummy and does not stick together. They hardly fry at all they more or less toss in wok with peanut oil and a drop of sesame oil. Comes out great every time. They made about 200 pounds at a time in 4 huge woks in about 1 hour 15 minutes. Scallions ,eggs, diced water chestnut and diced pork, and garlic and onion with spices and gravy master or blackjack. .Then the made a Yung Chow Fried Rice  with  shrimp, chicken and pork added.  Stuff was real good


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

LisiePooh said:


> And, to the second point, "organic" actually does guarantee no GMO ingredients; it's one of the requirements to be labeled "organic". Thanks for the advice on Whole Foods! I can only dream of living near an Asian market, but perhaps its worth a special trip. I had a difficult time the last time I was in one, as a lot of the labels weren't in English


If you are really worried about GMOs, you might want to visit the USDA link French Fries posted above and read to the bottom of their statement, which I quoted earlier. "Organic" does not guarantee no GMOs because the USDA does not shut down or remove certification from an organic grower if their crop tests positive for GMOs, like they do with pesticides. They simply receive some counseling, advice on how to prevent contamination, and a "Now you know you can't have GMOs in organic crops". For that matter, it's pretty much impossible to guarantee no GMOs with cross pollination by bees and other insects or other natural occurring factors, like the wind, and sharing of farming and processing equipment. The USDA does not list a "tolerable" level of GMOs allowed in a crop because they don't want to seem like they find it acceptable like they do with pesticides in non-organic foods. Ideally, "organic" would "guarantee" no GMOs, but it simply doesn't. If you are really worried about them, try to find farms with as large a GMO-free buffer zone around them as possible. The larger the buffer, the less chance you'll get GMOs in the crop. Maybe the USDA lists inspection results for organic farms online somewhere so you can see whose farms GMOs weren't found in on any level.


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## linguini (Jun 6, 2008)

Found a nice recipe for beef fried rice.


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## subchef (Jul 16, 2013)

There are so many variations to fried rice from pork to shrimp to "house" fried.  As for color and flavor, and numerous batches, I've found the use of sesame oil and Oyster Sauce works the best. They both give it flavor and the oyster sauce helped give it the nice color. That plus using the traditional Wok and High heat will color it nicely. I use a burner from a turkey fryer for my wok which pumps out the heat so it's imperative that you have your mise en place!


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

For that yellow look, it's mostly the so-called chicken msg. Chicken base or boullion thinned a bit, but stil concentrated so its salty like soy sauce.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Yung Chow Fried Rice   = a combination of beef, pork, chicken and shrimp  really good. A meal in itself


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## supertaster (Oct 14, 2013)

No!  Do not use curry powder.  This is not indian food.  Bleeche.  The way to get the rice dark brown is to use dark soy or black soy.


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## supertaster (Oct 14, 2013)

The best Roast Pork Fried Rice is dark brown in color, with of course roast pork cubes, small green onion pieces, white onion squares, a few bean sprouts, and little pieces of yellow egg.  I have yet to find another Chinese restaurant that makes it correctly.  The old man retired and closed his down, and I can't find any more like it.  When you find yellow or light colored fried rice?  It does not have the full flavor it should be and is bland.  Only those rare places that use all the ingredients above and make it dark brown are making it proper.  And don't forget - No peas!  Peas or carrots do not belong in Chinese Fried rice!  If anyone here knows of a place on Long Island that makes the fried rice I described?  Please let me know... Thanks.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

making it proper? There's a huge variety of fried rice dishes, not one recipe that rules them all.


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## supertaster (Oct 14, 2013)

Yes you are correct.  I understand there is shrimp fried rice, chicken fried rice, house special fried rice, etc.  I was only referring to roast pork fried rice.  And there is only one correct way to make this dish properly.  I gave the old school traditional version which I consider the best tasting, most flavorful version and somewhat most costly.

Many Chinese restaurants today cut corners to save money.  They eliminate the egg, the bean sprouts and use inferior less expensive soy sauces, none at all or add cheap peas and carrots as fillers that should not be in it.  Since Chinese food in general is an art and calculated science to get just the right melded flavoring and aromas.... You can easily and drastically change the flavor significantly by not following the tried and true methods.  This is why it is so difficult to make many Chinese dishes at home.  You need the vast amounts of different powders, liquids, and ingredients not to mention the 800 degree oxygen aided gas stoves and large woks to make it perfect.  Something most of us do not have at our disposal, let alone the years of training it requires.

So my search continues where I live to find a Take Out place that makes my beloved roast pork fried rice correctly.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Um, "correct" may not be the most accurate word, perhaps "to my  particular taste" would be a better suited term?


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Supertaster said:


> ...Many Chinese restaurants today cut corners to save money. They eliminate the egg, the bean sprouts and use inferior less expensive soy sauces, none at all or add ...


Supertaster: what would you consider as a good or excellent brand of soy sauce?


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## supertaster (Oct 14, 2013)

kokopuffs said:


> Supertaster: what would you consider as a good or excellent brand of soy sauce?


Koon Chun brand Black Soy and even the Double Black and Lee Kum Kee soy sauces. I would avoid the supermarket chain brands like La Choy and the like. Stay away from soy sauce made from hydrolyzed soy protein and caramel color*.* The brands you find in a Chinese market are appropriate. This is where you find authenticity. Now there is an exception to this rule. La Choy brand Teriyaki sauce in the glass bottle with the purple band is exquisite. If anyone wants a teriyaki.., you will be hard pressed to find a more flavorful one. And the Japanese brand called Gyoza dipping sauce is wonderful on dumplings. It is similar to the brown dumpling sauce from the Chinese restaurants...


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Presently I have some Kwong Hung Seng Sauce with a dragonfly printed on the front label. On the back label I see "White Soy Sauce" printed and it's a product of Thailand. I purchased it from a Korean market here in south Georgia.

The ingredients as printed on the backside label are as follows:

*SOYBEAN 62%, RICE FLOUR 20%, SALT 10%, WATER 8%*


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I like all Kikoman products. Ponzu,Hoisen, Soy,Teriaki etc all are good and most consistant every time.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

I'm not sure but imho Kikkoman Soy Sauce seems watered down these days.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I do not  find that it is watered down, plus it is one of the few that is brewed. When I make a recipe from years ago again today it still comes out and taste the same.


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## dcarch (Jun 28, 2010)

Fried rice with salted fish is a classic recipe which you can get in most Chinese restaurants.

dcarch


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

chefedb said:


> I do not find that it is watered down, plus it is one of the few that is brewed. When I make a recipe from years ago again today it still comes out and taste the same.


Alas I might be suffering from taste bud burnout!


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## supertaster (Oct 14, 2013)

kokopuffs said:


> Presently I have some Kwong Hung Seng Sauce with a dragonfly printed on the front label. On the back label I see "White Soy Sauce" printed and it's a product of Thailand. I purchased it from a Korean market here in south Georgia.
> 
> The ingredients as printed on the backside label are as follows:
> 
> *SOYBEAN 62%, RICE FLOUR 20%, SALT 10%, WATER 8%*


That is fine. I'm sure it tastes great. It's an authentic version as well.


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## marteen hook (Oct 22, 2013)

I think you should use dark thick soya sauce for your brown rice.


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## foodiegirlnz (Oct 8, 2013)

Hi Gianni

Another alternative is to use Maggi Liquid Seasoning together with your soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil. Also brown rice is sometimes nice fried too which is a healthier option too.

I was also thinking you could add a touch of Kecap manis to the veges and rice for an Indonesian touch like they would use in say a Nasi Goreng!

Happy Cooking! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gif


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