House Special Fried Rice | Kenji's Cooking Show
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- čas přidán 27. 12. 2023
- I don't take sponsorships or do promotions of any kind. The best way to support me if you like my work is to buy my books or join my Patreon.
You can get any of my books, The Food Lab, The Wok and Every Night is Pizza Night) wherever books are sold, or you can order signed and personalized copies to be shipped anywhere in the world from here: booklarder.com/search?q=kenji
Here's my Patreon, where you will find every new video published early and ad-free, typically with fully written step-by-step instructions: / kenjilopezalt
I've written a ton about fried rice, including a big chapter in my book, The Wok, which features a recipe for House Special Fried Rice.
Online you can find the following resources for free:
My fried rice primer on Serious Eats: www.seriouseats.com/easy-vege...
My simplified primer for cooking fried rice on any range: www.seriouseats.com/perfect-e...
An egg fried rice video: • Egg Fried Rice Three W...
A bacon and egg fried rice video: • Bacon and Egg Fried Ri... - Jak na to + styl
One thing I absolutely love about Kenji's videos is that he's cooking in just a normal kitchen. So many videos have their kitchens set up like film sets, or have super fancy equipment or other things that the average home cook wouldn't have. Kenji will grab stuff out of a perfectly normal fridge, cook on a perfectly normal stove, and make things that look amazing in a kitchen that just about anybody could have.
That is one of the many things that's mashed Kenji special.
glazing
He's down to earth and it's reflected in the way he cooks. You don't need expensive ingredients and equipment to cook amazing food.
He seems like someone who actually cooks daily for his family. I get that sense from Ragusea as well.
A lot of CZcams cooks seem like they only do it for CZcams - which is fine as well no issue with that. Just very different styles and vibes. But Kenji is more the type of cook I'd like to emulate.
@@spamcan9208 Its interesting that he used to work for America's Test Kitchen who is ALL about having the prestige pans, and fancy utensils and whatnot, then makes often over-complicated recipes... contrasted with Kenji who uses a normal home kitchen, comparatively simple recipes and makes food that - from my experience - is even better.
there's a lesson to be learned in there someplace.
After redoing our kitchen and installing a gas stovetop, my wife bought me a wok in November. For Christmas she bought me your wok cookbook. I don't think I've ever had this much fun cooking. All of the recipes we've tried so far have been absolutely delicious!
Same boat! So fun !!
That cookbook is the best, an encyclopedia of asian cooking.
As a lifelong electric stovetop user, watching kenji cut off high heat then immediately place a serving plate on top felt like such a huge flex
You can also do that with induction stovetops!!
@@electriclilies2642Do you do that? I thought the heat from the pot/pan transfers to the stovetop a fair bit, so it would still be hot...
we should move away from gas
@@johannesromisch6136 I do that all the time. The only heat on the glass surface is from the heat from the pan conducting back on the glass. The glass is never heated from the induction, so it's much cooler than the scorching hot metal grates getting high flame heat. It's cool enough that you can actually cook through silicone pads between the glass surface and the pan, which is what I do to keep my cooktop from getting any scratches. Once I went induction, I never looked back.
The only possible thing I ever thought I might be missing was wok cooking, but it seems my logic was faulty because Kenji was having to hack the gas cooktop to do what an induction does by design: just heat the part of the pan that is in contact with the cooktop.
@@luke9822 Nice, thanks for the reply!
Kenji I admire how economical you are, using leftovers and planning meals ahead with bits and bobs. I am a housewife and the primary cook for my family, and this is just such a real way of cooking day in and day out. I feel it's a bit of a lost art these days. Or at least it isn't celebrated.
I recently started making meals for my family after the birth of my child, as my partner is understandably too tired to cook these days. I've found it relatively easy to make tasy meals with the help of CZcams, but I throw away so many leftover ingredients. I hope to someday learn how to plan better and improvise. Major respect to all of those home cooks who manage to use all of their groceries every week.
I commend you for making this a goal! Being able to improvise like Kenji and like many experienced home cooks is so overlooked these days! Recipes are great and meal prepping is great but being able to throw together what you have, or substitute with confidence -those skills take time to develop. It takes plenty of trial and error, and just plain old experience. And as far as I'm aware there aren't a lot of cookbooks out there focusing on it. On the old Splendid Table radio show, the host Lynn Rosetto-Casper had a call-in segment where people would tell her 5 ingredients from their fridge and she would come up with dishes to try. It was great and gave me so much inspiration over the years. Anyway, kudos to you for recognizing a skill set you'd like to gain. Keep cooking and using up what you have on hand! May we all cook with the confidence of Kenji. I personally just tried his gas stove hack for the wok last night and was blown away - it worked!! @@JD-vn5vw
@@JD-vn5vw Good on you for learning a new skill! Leftovers can be tricky, but a great way to start is the type of thing that is base meals with infinite combinations: the fried rice here is a great example, but also other styles of stir fry, soups, omelets, pastas, etc. Things like that that you can throw in almost any combination of meat and veg an it'll be decent. Most of these are ways to get rid of veggies, which is probably most people's worst difficulty with food waste.
I think the flame problem is illustrated well at 4:45, because if you remove the diffuser you're more likely to blow out the flame, and you noticed it right away, but still, that's why it's dangerous.
I literally don't care what Kenji makes at this point. I just want to hear him explain things to me LOL
Noticed the finger nails. Your definitely a proud father of a DAUGHTER lol
My daughter's favorite part of the fried rice is the egg so I always make a 4-egg fried rice.
god this was satisfying to watch something about a master of his craft doing a simple recipe.
Hope you had a wonderful holidays Kenji! Love what you do! You’re awesome and thanks for leveling up our wok game!
Looks great. Thanks Kenji!
Thanks for the collab with Earlywood on the wok spatula. I got one for Christmas and it is a wonderful piece.
Hi Kenji, I am so grateful for all your kind teaching. I made that prime rib roast like on your video for our xmas dinner (and your mashed potatoes) but did the low and slow on the green egg and then blasted it in the oven before serving--absolutely delicious! Whipping creme fraiche is such a genius idea. Also, I used my wok last night and cooked from your book, I was noticing how my flame wasn't hitting the center of the wok last night. Your trick of taking off the top is also so helpful. Cheers and Happy New Year!
It was so fun to watch you use that wok burner trick on your stove. I saw that in an earlier video of yours but I was afraid to try it. I think I am ready to give it a shot now. I've loved watching you cook for years.
the absolute goat of easy, to the point videos on very simple, yet amazingly decious cooking tutorials!
I've found recently that the flavor secret for fried rice is just what you did at the end: salt, msg, white pepper. It sounds silly, but I started doing that with my fried rice and it was the thing I was missing all along. I thought the flavoring came from a bunch of soy sauce - no, it's that dry seasoning at the end.
Must be in the wok hay!
However i did have a very brown version at a restaurant once that i really like but have been unable to recreate with any combination of soy sauce oyster or anything else
tried fish sauce?
@@coreyw5981
I love how your range has a "giant column of fire" setting for all that wok cooking.
I had never thought about the diffuser trick before, and this is your second video I've seen that features it. I will have to see if my stove is compatible. Usually those only get removed for a deep cleaning of the stove top. Also, I love the various seasoning wells you have at the ready! Thanks for all the wisdom!
I've been using pretty much this exact same recipe for my late night fried rice cravings for 20 years. Nice and simple
I took a play from your stir fried greens recipe that uses a blowtorch to char them a little and used a blow torch to char my fried rice in an attempt to mimic wok hei. Turned out pretty well!
Something so simple that I haven't been doing right. Thanks for the tips here, can't wait to try again.
I can't believe I never thought of this! I'm definitely experimenting with removing the diffuser plate for my wok. You never cease to teach Kenji, thanks!
The first time I saw someone do this, I went to my stove as quickly as I'm able, only to find no joy - a non-removable diffuser.
Ugh, that stinks! @@genjii931
Diffuser is removable on my 6 year old LG stove, but this trick doesn't work on it. Gas jet is too strong and won't stay lit.
Doesn't work with my burner - there is some kind of heat-activated safety valve on the edge of where the diffuser sits, if it doesn't stay hot enough (like if the diffuser is removed) it cuts out.
That's too bad. I'm curious what peoples stove models are and whether this is only possible on older stoves.@@binaryagenda
Definitely gonna try this!
Wok Mon is finally delivering their product. I got mine a couple months ago, and it is a game changer for wok cooking on my Wolf range. The kit included not just the flame concentrator, but also a wok ring that is designed to clip securely to the burner grate. Now my wok heats up really quickly and in the center.
Thanks for the incredible advice and information. I bought your book and am extremely impressed with the way you break down information and sprinkle in comedic lines! The book itself feels like it will last generations just like a wok.. thanks again!
Hi Kenji, love your recipes and your videos. I just wanted to share that I tried the trick of removing the diffuser plate. At first it worked great, but within a few minutes I noticed white smoke coming out from the border grates and also from the adjacent burner holes. It was fairly heavy smoke as well--definitely not just the wok smoking from the heat. I am guessing that this was caused by the incomplete combustion, but it looked bad enough that my wife and I considered calling the fire department. But we turned off the burner, turned on the exhaust, threw open some windows, and waited a few minutes. Luckily, the smoke eventually dissipated and I think we're in the clear.
I just wanted to give everyone a heads up to use caution when cooking without the diffuser plate. With that said, the fried rice came out perfect!
I've seldom had the opportunity to cook on a gas range (as opposed to a camp stove), so am very intrigued by the idea of removing the diffuser plate. Very clever!
As and the way you handle the wok is incredibly elegant.
Looks fantastic.
As a predominately disorganized person in every way BUT the kitchen I just wanna say I really appreciate the mise en place and the stacking of the dishes as you go. That was probably more satisfying for me than the inevitably delicious meal you prepared, lol.
I LOVE that you use EVERYTHING, even the chewed up dumpling innards that the kids left behind! So satisfying to find a good use for everything.
By far, my favorite cooking channel. I made your carnitas recipe and it turned out amazing! I will be making it many times again!
looking svelte Kenji! Happy Holidays
WokMon makes a steel “concentrator” for your gas range that works pretty well. Taking off the round iron slab can sometimes cause the flame to suddenly go out in addition to incomplete combustion, and also with stir fry you run the danger of dropping food into the tube supplying gas to the burner..using a smaller burner can help bring the flame closer to the center too.
I LOVE YOU, KENJI! FRIED RICE IS MY FAVORITE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO!!!
I’d watch you cook just about anything, Kenji. Such a delight!
Also watching this video I can’t help but assume you have a powerful exhaust fan over your stove.
I just got a new wok for Christmas and this is perfect timing!
I made some stir fry and fried rice, but I had always seasoned with Soy Sauce. I was thinking it was too much when the stir fry I made also had a soy sauce base.
I will have to try seasoning like you did! Time to get some new white pepper.
i love Kenji
i got your wok book for christmas and am excited to cook!! happy holidays :)
Amazing use of left overs!!!
as a child I also much preferred the dumpling skins to the fillings 😂
Another excellent video thank you. I like a lot of eggs in my fried rice
man, I'm now hungry and fried rice at 9pm sure sound good
I always add ginger and garlic to oil before frying the rice
That looks great, I do think that maybe is 2 portions.
Still have your patio jet burner? I got one when I saw you and love it,
Thanks chef
Awesome video, as always. I will try cooking after removing my diffuser plate as soon as possible. It didn't even look all that unsafe!
For those who have electric stoves that struggle with gettung the results you want: consider getting a butane burner.
I got one from Iwatani that I use for certain dishes. (Just make sure your space is WELL VENTILATED, I stir fry with some windows open this way I don't worry about gas and cooking oil smell doesn't linger).
On a related note, I've been daydreaming about cooking outside on a portable electric hotplate we got for trips. Like on my driveway. Bring out all the mis en place on a tray, and boom, no kitchen stove cleanup!
@@perotinofhackensack2064 Now you just gotta clean your driveway. Smart.
"Wok-e Smokiness" - Classic Kenji! Great cooking video, Kenji! That fried rice looks very tasty indeed!
Loving the nail varnish!
🤞🏽 it's not toxic polish...
🤐
I've made fried rice 3 times and it's turned out just fine - day old long grain rice, parboiled frozen mixed vegetables, cooked cut up pork chop, SPAM or chicke, a liyyle soy sauce, not too much oil.
Kenji just casually having absolutely fabulous nails is fuckin great honestly lmao
???
Just made your chicken fried rice last night, it was so good. I’ll have to try this as well. Thanks!
My go-to fried rice comprises 3 bowls of jasmine rice, 3 eggs, and 3 scallions thinly sliced. The eggs go in first and puff up. Before they brown, the rice goes into the wok. I use the ladle to press the rice into the egg and break up the clumps. A dash of Chinese wine. around the hot sides of the wok. The scallions go in and then salt, white pepper, Chinese chicken bouillon powder (chicken-flavored MSG) and a touch of white sugar to bring it all into balance.
Ok, I guess I’m gonna sound weird but what kind of stove do you have that allows you to take off the diffuser to get a jet like flame? If I did that to mine I’d die of gas exposure.
I have been making Lucas Sin’s golden fried rice for years - I’ve made this twice now and it’s our current preferred method!
Ok, so I think I need to cut out 1/2 the oil. I made three batches last night (cheated with a torch for some wok hei), but as delicious as it was (used soy, fish, and oyster sauces), it left a big oily residue on everyone’s plate. Yours looks so healthy!
Love the cornstarch tip!
Yep, now next time and forever more you know! Happy frying!
If u find the results too oily suggest adding more eggs to absorb it.
Pretty sure your burner isn't hot enough if there is an oily residue.
Try let the wok pre heat a little more.
Posted 13 seconds ago?! Never been this early! :D Happy new years!
17 seconds on those eggs. amazing.
Looks so good.
We have The Wok and I just got my husband The Food Lab. 2024 will be a year of epic meals
Costco rotisserie chicken is magical for fried rice. Cheap as could be, and easy to cut up for whatever you like.
This is such a core memory unlocked thing for me. So many nights of costco rotisserie chicken fried rice growing up xD
@@kodlee_indoors there are so many worse meals to have on repeat!
Get an induction range and a flat bottomed wok and go for it! But watch the cooking very carefully because it might cook much faster than with gas.
"if you're making this just for a couple of a people it's gonna take less time" wait, what do you mean couple of people? That plate alone is one serving for me
amen
I need to try my hand at making fried rice one of these days. I need practice doing the food tossing in the pan technique. The few times I tried it never went to plan.
Plans never survive first contact with the enemy. :)
Always thought soy sauce was needed in fried rice, never made it without it. Guess that's up next with some MSG I bought recently :D
Love your videos. What is that lighter you are using to ignite the burner? The electronic ignition on my stove died a week ago and I like how compact the one you use is.
oh wow!
i recently came into a cheap carbon steel wok and don't really know how to use it yet but i was eyeing the metal cover thing on my gas stove burner and thinking how if i just slid it off i'd have that single jet of flame right in the center, but i wasn't sure if that was completely insane or not; now i know!
It may or may not work depending on the stove. On the inexpensive gas stove in my old apt the flame just went out and it was just gas.
My mom did the same with minimal seasoning... no soy or oyster sauce. She let the ingredients shine on their own too!
For those of us with induction (or electric) stoves, what is the best method to try and create a stir fry?
Yes an outdoor wok burner is an option, but maybe only for 6 months a year. But for some people that may not be an option at all, so what’s the next best thing?
This method is Shuri-approved!
All it took was one attempt and I had an amazing restaurant-style fried rice bursting with more flavor than my whole city could shake a stick at. Makes for a great fridge-cleaner too. And very doable using an electric wok.
The curse in disguise is that I now consider my fried rice to be better than my mother's fried rice. She won't be happy to hear _that_ one. 🙃
Kenji, how often do you use your outdoor wok burner? I am not sure how much use I would get out of one
Hi Kenji! Could you do a fish stir fry? The restaurant does such a good job, but I have a hard time at home
Kenji - where are you prep bowls from? I'm looking for a set at home of various sizes and love the ones you have in all your videos. Thank you!
Chi ese supermarket.
Talking about fast food! Seems like everybody has their own way to do fried rice. No matter how one does it, it still tastes good.
Look into an American made stove or just the cook top called the BLUE STAR. Unbelievable BTU's. I take the burner top off and my round bottom wok fits right in. Does not move. I have the high end stove. All I can say is unbelievable cooking capabilities with the BLUE STAR.
Interesting 💅🏽...
Hi Kenji, have you ever mentioned what kind of Wok do you use? Can you recommend any in particular?
I live in a place that has actually banned gas stoves in new house builds and is only allowing people to install induction cooktops in new houses being built...do you have anything on how to regulate heat in a wok on an induction top?
Also, while I loved cooking on a gas stove, when we downsized into a small home, we decided not to replace the old really terrible electric stove with gas because of the environmental issues. So we have an induction cooktop and I too would like to know more about using it with a wok. One thing I can warn you about -- don't put carbon steel on an induction and start with high heat. You'll warp the pan. (ask me how I know 😉). Start somewhat low, then gradually increase over a couple of minutes.
I have an induction stove, but I have a cast iron wok, will that work?
I’ve noticed chef that there are fried rices that do eggs cooked separate or eggs that are raw incorporated into rice cooking stage.
Do you have any thoughts on these different processes?
Ah I must have missed that video. You don’t remember which one by chance where he mentioned it? I’ve done both and I like to fry it real hard like a Korean stone bowl at the bottom. I def like both ways. :)
While I love asian cusine and especially Fried Rice, I switched back from Wok to non stick. The amount of oil you need is just insane. I don't use that much oil in a whole month.
Are you heating the oil in the back burner or is the oil cold and just sitting in the burner for convenience? Love your videos.
Just leftover oil when k fried katsu previously.
I must have missed it. When was the shrimp filling added? Along with the meat to reheat briefly?
Yes. It was in the bowl w the other meats
Hey Kenji! When I have the rice and but am a bit short on the veg, my fried rice gets a good amount of well drained sauerkraut. The tartness goes away, leaving a yummy bit of bulk. I'm also a fan of using bacon in my fried rice if I have no other leftover protein.
chopped up hot dog lol :)
Kimchi!
Seriously fusion( Chinese and Eastern Europe) food!
Great way to use up leftovers and veggies that are a couple days away from the garbage can.
I missed him turning off the stove and was wondering why he put the plate on the giant pyro column 😂
Where did you get that spoon rest?
I like putting garlic in my fried rice, Kenji I noticed you don't put garlic, is there a reason for that?
I got an outdoor wok burner. The eastman outdoors one. The fried rice on it has wok hei but almost burnt. Not like a restaurant. Any thoughts? How do they do it??
Knowledge and experience. Watch Chinese Cooking Demystified channel from the Beginning. Learn technique.
Cook faster so it doesn’t burn!
"Longyau" - Essential in your context.
@@violetviolet888 the burner gets Longyau in one minute. Maybe my wok is dirty or I'm trying to cook too much at once. I'm not getting much sticking. Theres just a slight acrid burnt taste that I don't get from restaurants.
@@boltup5566 You should know if your wok is dirty. As for cooking too much at once, there are many potential factors: Is your mise en place all ready to go so you don't have to look for anything including the final plate once you start cooking? type of oil, temp of ingredients, size of ingredients, more.
You said: "The fried rice on it has wok hei but almost burnt. Not like a restaurant. Any thoughts? How do they do it?" Answer: They do it FAST. Many times they are moving the food through the air so it never really "sits" in the wok. And they *really know their ingredients and the order in which they are used, and the time required to not overcook them* .
It takes months of full time training to use excessively high heat with a wok even for professional Chinese chefs. This is assuming it's they type that is mobile and movable in the first place. As opposed to 3 foot wide commercial woks that are stationary in which case you learn to move ingredients in and out of the wok at exponential speed and/or move it to different levels of height within the wok to moderate ingredient temperature.
If you really want wok hei, you're either going to have to diligently practice or you can try Kenji's method of using a blowtorch at the end which would be much easier.
My father was a Chinese Chef. I grew up in a restaurant. Even in China, citizens know that wok hei is for restaurants, not to be achieved at home. It requires a lot of energy, proper equipment, and knowledge and experience by trained professionals. Westerners don't seem to understand this significance of difference. Not saying it's not possible, but there are reasons you go to restaurants: to pay for something you're not going to make at home. Wok Hei would be one of them.
Luckily watching this knowing that I have some homemade tasty FR in my fridge. I’m off to get some😅😅😅
The only ched i would take fried rice advice from
Love the nails today
how does keeping the flame/heat in the center of the wok help the cooking and use of the wok?
Just enough for one person.
Kenji! I have a weird question. How do you store your scallions in the fridge? Mine always go soggy by day 2 or 3. I’ve tried putting them in the crisper, in damp paper towel, in water… please help 😢
I like kimchi, ketchup and lotus root in my fried rice. With some bean sprouts thrown in right at the end
That entire dish could be my portion. 😋
I've always been quite keenly interested in the fact that almost no native Chinese person in China or recent Chinese immigrant in Canada that I've asked has ever known about "wok hei", and if they did, they didn't seem to care about it. I think the only person that ever knew and acknowledged it was a professional Chinese chef, and even she didn't seem to put a huge amount of emphasis on the idea.
It is so very interesting that one of the features Western cooks value so highly about Chinese cooking seems to be something the Chinese people as a whole are unaware of and mostly couldn't replicate at home even if they wanted to since they mostly use tiny two-burner stoves whose main purpose is to save fuel.
I’d like to hear more about this. I’ll ask my Chinese American friends🎉and recent immigrants in meantime.
hey Kenji, I always read that leftover rice is not good because it gets moldy. I've eaten fried rice my whole life, and often leave rice in the fridge for 2-3 days. Whats your take on this?
I usually make fried rice with rice that’s been cooked a few days in advance (it’s great leftover meal to clean out all the bits). And yes, refrigerated is fine, I’ve never had moldy rice after a few days.
What kind of plate is that? You put it right on the hot burner