Yangzhou Fried Rice 🇨🇳

If you've had success with my basic ham and egg fried rice, up the notch with this Yangzhou fried rice, named after the ancient city in China's Jiangsu province, known for its gastronomy. The dish features prawns and Chinese barbecue pork (Char Siu) but the rice remains the star of the dish without being overwhelmed by the fancy ingredients.  Use small prawns, or slice large ones horizontally in half.  For the Chinese barbecue pork, see my recipe here, or simply get some from a Chinese BBQ house.  (You'll see them hanging by the front window among cooked chickens and ducks.)  Finely chopped lettuce leaves are added last but not least for a little crunch.  Serve this with my pickled daikon and carrots as a side if you like.

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

• vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 450g / 1lb cooked, cold long grain rice 
• 150g fresh prawns, shelled and deveined (prepared weight)
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxin wine
• 150g Chinese barbecue pork, diced 
• ¾ cup frozen peas, blanched in hot water and drained
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 60g iceberg or cos lettuce leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1-2 spring onions, finely chopped

METHOD

1. Use a fork to loosen the cold rice if they have been refrigerated and hardened.
2. If the prawns are large, slice each horizontally in half.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over high heat until hot.  Add the prawns and sauté for a minute or so until they start to curl up.  Drizzle in the Shaoxin wine and sauté for another 30 seconds or until the prawns are cooked through.  Remove and set aside.  Wipe the wok clean with damp paper towels.
4. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the same pan over high heat and scramble the beaten eggs for a few seconds.  Add all the rice in one go, then quickly break up large clumps with the edge of the spatula, mixing them up with the eggs as you go. 
5. Add the pork, then the prawns. Continue to sauté until each grain of the rice is covered with the oil (not sticking together).  It should take no longer than a few minutes.
6. Add the peas, soy sauce, salt, lettuce leaves and spring onions in that order.  Toss all ingredients to combine.  Taste rice, and add more soy sauce if necessary.  Serve immediately.