Recipe(tried): fried rice/chao fan (for BG)

as promised, BG, this is a good method to prepare fried rice. I am not going to break down as how much of each ingredient to tbs. or tsp. This is just a general guide in preparing fried rice. For chinese, fried rice is usually cooked w/ left-over rice that has been in the fridge overnight. The reason for this is that overnight rice is dryer and can absorb the stock/water/flavor better than the rice is just cooked. If u were to use freshly cooked rice, the result will be "soggy" fried rice and I bet u won't like that.
And since u use the overnight rice, there is a need to use fork to break it apart b4 u start cooking so u can achieve a uniform texture when it is fried in the pan. Otherwise, u will see some part of it is soggy and others are dry & hard.

prepare all ingredients beforehand is a rule of thumb as chinese fried rice has all sorts of tiny bits in it. U can use chopped bbq pork/chicken pces (best marinated w/ soy sauce, chinese cooking wine, pinch of white pepper powder), diced chinese sausage, kernel corns, diced carrots or onions, peas and etc. if u have Spam or ham (virginia ham seems to work the best) in ur pantry/fridge, they can be great subs. for the meat mentioned above. we also add small shrimp pces lot of times but if u rn't a seafood eater, this can be omitted. if u can get those dried small anchovies i told u b4, u can also shallow fry them and add to the fried rice at the end of cooking so it retains the crispness and adds an exotic flavor to ur rice. In this case, u must get the tiniest one possible as the large ones will make the fried rice texture become coarse as they are harder even b4 they r fried. There is almost always eggs in the fried rice. I'd say u need about 1 beaten egg per serving. For seasoning, u need some chopped garlic, salt/soy sauce or both combined, chicken stock/water, and some white pepper powder. If u use shrimp, never throw out the heads coz they make great stock for the rice. and finally, u may way ot chopped some green onions for garnishing.

OK, here's how you prepare it. Heat the wok/(deep/or at least not too shallow) frying pan until smoking hot. Add about 2 -3 T. cooking oil. Peanut oil is usually preferred, but I use veggies oil. By the way, I don't own a wok (a bit weird for a chinese I know.) coz my 30cm-frying pan works well for me as I cook all sorts of cuisine. OK, now you add the garlic, fry it until lightly brown but not burned. Add the meats, fry them until cooked and lightly browned. Add the rice at this stage, mix the rice w/ meats. Now add in seasoning, & stir everything together. Add all diced veggies, & stir again. (If u use shrimp this is the time to add it.) Add in the stock, stir well. Push everything to the side and add in the beaten eggs. Fry the eggs and break the eggs into pieces. Once the eggs are cooked, but not browned, mix eggs w/ all other ingredients once again Stir to mix well.
Add in the chopped green onion and shallow-fried anchovies, if used, at the end and mix well. That's all.

I only make fried rice at home as it's an easy way to use up all the leftover stuff. But this does not AlWAYS apply for restaurants. To be honest, we don't order fried rice at all when we eat at any chinese/asian restaurant as we worry that they might use left-over rice that has been in the fridge for too long or the meats might be the ones that can't be sold for a few day And u don't know just how they handle the cooked meat in ur fried rice as it's too difficult to tell. When my uncle was trained in a 5-star hotel some 30 years ago, he was shocked to learn all the dirty tricks that you can imagine! not all restaurants (not my fmaily's anyway) do such things these days but u'd never be too careful, right?