Chinese Takeout Fried Rice Secrets Revealed

Wanna learn how to make takeout-style lo mein at home? Check out this video: https://youtu.be/iRxDpjNDt3A

Hi! I am 73 years old and have been cooking since 8 years of age. While I use many Chinese and/or Indian cooking techniques in my self-taught fusion cuisine, the look, texture, and taste of a perfect chicken fried rice has always eluded my grasp. That was until I watched your excellent video… no less than 6 times… and noticed things I had done wrong or used incorrect ingredients. So after a few days, my rice wine, light & dark soy sauces, and toasted sesame seed oil arrived. Tonight I followed your recipe and instructions to the letter. WOW! The dish was PERFECT! Thank you, I am grateful, and even chuckled at the lighthearted puns / jokes you included. Kudos!

"Don't add so much oil that the U.S military considers invading you" This caught me off guard 😂

I made this for my wife (who's Chinese) and she said it was the best fried rice she'd ever had in this country. Following the exact instructions can be a bit time consuming (as well as taking up sooo many bowls) but I'll get more efficient at making it as time goes on. Well worth the time and energy to make. 10/10!

As an Asian who grew up on fried rice (and now still LIVES on fried rice), you nailed all the tips and tricks taught by my mother perfectly - I was always taught that fried rice was the 'simplest' of dishes, yet my own initial attempts at fried rice were disastrous as I was committing literally ALL the mistakes you showed, UNTIL I learnt the nuances from my mum and years of practice. EXCELLENT video! Subbed! 😊

TIMESTAMPS I can’t be the only one here who’s in over their head, so here y’all go. Also, don’t forget to look through the comment section for really helpful tips from Khor Jing Yan, Esq. 0:37 Rice 1:58 Rice prep 3:25 Chinese Soy Sauce 4:30 Rice Wine and Toasted Sesame oil 5:23 Chicken 5:47 How to cut it 6:11 Wash and dry 6:41 Chicken Marinade * 2g Baking soda * 2,5g Light soy sauce * 2g Sugar * 1,5g Cornstarch * 1g Salt * 0,5g MSG * 5g Neutral oil 7:20 Sauce and Spice mix prep 7:37 Sauce Prep *2g Sugar *10g Light soy sauce *2.5g Dark soy sauce 8:08 Dry spice mix *3g Salt *2pn White pepper *2g MSG 8:29 Cooking * remember to prep everything * cook in batches to make up for home stoves 8:42 heat and prep wok 8:49 Two beaten eggs 9:15 Return wok to optimum heat 9:21 56g Chicken 9:59 Onions, Carrot, Garlic * return to optimum heat * 37g Onion, 28g Carrot * cook 1-2 minutes * 2 cloves chopped Garlic * Sauté 20sec 10:24 350g Rice * break up chunks * Stir constantly * Add oil if dry. Very little 10:54 add chicken and eggs * Incorporate * collect all in the middle * pour sauce around sides * caramelise slightly, then stir in * Don’t burn! 11:20 Dry spice mix 11:27 Beans and sprouts *Mix in, then push all to center 11:35 9g Shaoxing wine * pour around the edge * immediately mix in *let alcohol evaporate (20-30s) * kill heat 11:42 12g green onions, 5g toasted sesame oil 11:52 taste and adjust with salt and white pepper BTW, I was supposed to start cooking at 12 o’clock and it’s now almost two o’clock 😬

I worked at a Chinese takeout place. They had one fridge that they used just for storing cooked rice for 18-24 hours before using it in fried rice dishes. They always had a fresh bowl of baking soda on every level of the fridge. This helped absorb moisture.

I almost never watch anything about food or cooking. but the premise of "how they do it" coupled with such a clear, concise and well-spoken instructable made this video a winner!

I've literally been playing with chinese chicken fried rice recipes for 20yrs....i've done lots that i've really liked, but this is by far the standout. And your instruction on mixing the seasonings and sauces make it so easy to consistently repeat, which is something i've struggled with. Terrific job. I'd love to get your take on a personal fav. of mine - chinese curry chicken!

As a Malaysian Chinese with Fried Rice being a staple food of our country. This is one of the best and accurate tutorials i’ve seen. Approved!

One thing I spotted that's rarely mentioned anywhere else: white pepper. The flavor boost from it is WILD in my opinion. Another trick: before beating the eggs together, save at least one egg yolk, fry the egg yolk first then add the remainder. You'll taste the difference :-)

I been making fried rice since I was 15, I am 51 now. The chicken prep technique was something we Down here did not know. The taste of the fried rice improved so much when we incorporated chicken prepared the way described in this video. Even works for "Nasi Goreng Kampung" or Village Fried Rice.

I have been looking for a fried rice recipe for years and have tried many! I had almost given up when I came across this one by chance. This recipe is the best fried rice ever!!like many of the other comments made, tastes better than our take away here in australia

Finally someone says it. As a native Chinese person who loves cooking I rarely see anyone of my Chinese friends (domestic or abroad) uses Kikkoman. I had a discussion with my cook friend about kikkoman and we both agreed that it’s just not the same. Ngl kikkoman can’t get the job done the same as the brands we always use, I’ll list them here in case anyone’s interested. You can search for these words on the bottle wrappings in Asian supermarkets: HaiTian海天 or 味极鲜weijixian, and the two brands Jason mentions in his video are equally good. Thanks for the great video Jason!

Im Honkonger and in my family actually own a Chinese restaurant in San Jose, this is the best fried rice tutorial from a foreigner that I have ever seen, you explain it so well, every explanation and the translation of those Chinese kitchen terms are so on point, I could never explain it in English like you do

BRO! ONLY 174k SUBS AND MILLIONS OF VIEWS!! That is truly criminal stats. You are a culinary king and a true food enthusiast. My hat is forever off to you.

I VERY RARELY leave comments anywhere online, but this is one I had to chime in on!! Fried Rice is something that I've tried to make for many many years. I've tried lots of recipes and they all BOMBED massively. I gave this one a try this evening and WOWIE WOW WOW is it good! I mean DAMN GOOD! Thank you Jason for putting this video together, I found it easy to follow and the results were incredibly tasty! I now have a GOTO recipe for making rice that know will become part of my regular routine. OUTSTANDING STUFF!!!

A few tips from a part time cook who worked in some Chinese restaurants in Malaysia: - you can put baking soda in everything. either mix it with water to create a brine or just dry brine. 1. It helps retain moisture and creates a more tight texture thru osmosis process in muscle fibers 2. It is like a brine but it is not salty. - use a lot of oil. frying is a good way to cook your ingredients evenly. In many restaurants they even deep fry vegetables before using them to make stir fries or other dishes. Because the vegetables are fried so rapidly they dont discolor as much and still look green, all while having a cooked flavor. - reuse your oils. Have a small heat resistant container beside you so can reuse the oils you used to fry the chicken, the veges, the aromatics etc. Just like how marinates works by dissolving flavors in water, a lot of flavors are also only soluble in oils. After rounds of frying your reused oil will become very fragrant. As a bonus I find the oil to be the main contributing factor to wok hey: the high temperature created by the high pressure stoves heats the reused oil pass the smoke point and creates that fragrant smell we all so loved. - dice your ingredients evenly: because you are cooking in high heat, smaller bits will get burned by the time the bigger pieces finish cooking, so you should not slack off when dicing your ingredients and making sure they are all the same size. - ration your ingredients for different stages of cooking: shao xing wine for example have different flavor profile when cooked. You can play with this by adding half of it at the start of the cooking and at the end of it for added complexity in flavor. Same goes for scallions or green onions, and many other ingredients, adding them in parts allows you to control the flavor of your dish. - always add msg last, cuz this is the way. (idk why but I think msg makes weird smells when overcooked? I haven't try this in isolation but that is what I was told in the kitchen)

By far THE single best Chinese fried rice video on video I've ever watched. Every detail is correct with explanation. The amount of thoughts and research went into this video is respectable. As a Chinese who cook unprofessionally for 15+ years and professionally for 2+ years, I approve this video!

Just made like 20 pounds of this for my whole family, we all loved it so much, thank you!!! No wok,and no fire was a challenge but its perfect