Fried Rice with Shrimp and Chinese Sausage

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Fried Rice with Shrimp and Chinese Sausage

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Chinese stir-fried rice is an excellent way to use up leftover rice, meat and even vegetables from the previous day. Since this dish works best with day old rice, I recommend that when you make rice for a meal, you simply make four extra cups and store them in the refrigerator until the next day.

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Another thing that needs to be said about rice is that the Chinese prefer long-grain white rice and consider short varieties inferior. They also don’t eat brown rice if they can get anything else. If you have any doubts, than simply look at the rice that you are served the next time you eat in a Chinese restaurant.

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Chinese fried rice is usually made with scallions, bits of meat or shrimp, scrambled eggs and some vegetable such as peas or bean sprouts. It is quickly cooked in a little oil and it is usually seasoned with soy sauce and a little sesame oil. The recipe that follows is my personal favorite and contains shrimp, Chinese mushrooms and sausage and fresh bean sprouts. Believe me when I tell you that canned bean sprouts are not an acceptable substitute for fresh ones

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I strongly encourage you to find a local Chinese or Asian market to buy your Chinese ingredients. Just about any city with a few Chinese restaurants will have at least one market to supply them. You will find a lot of ingredients there that you can’t get anywhere else and the prices will be much lower. Except for fresh vegetables, you can buy several months worth of canned goods and dried food and store them in your cupboard.

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What follows is my favorite recipe for fried rice. It is made with Chinese dried sausage, Shitake mushrooms and shrimp. You don’t need a wok to make it if you have a heavy frying pan and a spatula. If you need more information on how to stir-fry or how to make rice, see my hub on Chinese stir-fry cooking - Moo Goo Gai Pan and Stir Fry Beef with Peppers.

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Difficulty:

Easy

Preparation Time:

15 Minutes

Cooking Time:

15 Minutes

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Ingredients:

4 Cups of Cold Cooked Rice

4 Tablespoons of Oil (soybean oil works fine and is cheap)

3 Beaten Eggs

3 Chinese Sausages cut into small pieces

6 Chinese Dried Mushrooms

4 Cups of Fresh Bean Sprouts (8 Ounces)

3 Scallions cut into pea sized pieces including the green part

2 Teaspoons Sesame Seed Oil

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Shrimp Marinade:

8 Oz. Fresh Shrimp de-veined and cut into small pieces

1 Egg White

1 Teaspoon Dry White Wine

1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

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1. Mix the ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients
2. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a small skillet and cook the beaten eggs to make a small pancake. Then cut the pancake into 1 inch by ½ inch strips.
3. Soak the mushrooms in hot water. Then remove the tough stems and cut them into small strips.

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Sauce Mixture:

1 Tablespoon of Black Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce

¼ Teaspoon Sugar

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Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron), add the shrimp mixture and stir-fry them for 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon.
2. Add the sausages, mushrooms and scallions to the pan and stir-fry for another 30 seconds
3. Add the bean sprouts and then add the sauce mixture.
4. Add the rice to the pan and stir-fry for about five minutes breaking up any clumps with your spatula.
5. Finally, add the cooked eggs and the sesame seed oil and stir-fry for 1-2 More Minutes.

For an interesting variation on this recipe, replace the sausage with cubed ham or Chinese roast pork and replace the bean sprouts with a half-cup of frozen peas.

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