Revision 3
See here for part 2
Wanting to finish off the rice I cooked yesterday, I decided to try adding some oyster sauce to determine if it’s a required ingredient. I went with Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce. £2.60 for 500ml seemed like a fair price.
Not sure of the ratios or quantities, I went with mixing a tsp of dark soy sauce with a tsp of oyster sauce. It smelled quite nice which I take as a good sign.
Egg Fried Rice Recipe (Revision 3)
Serves one
1. Whisk up a large egg, with a pinch of black pepper, white pepper, salt
2. Chop up a bit of spring onion. Sometimes called green onion
3. Heat wok on maximum temperature until starts to smoke
4. Add about a tbsp of sunflower oil and wait for it to smoke
5. Add the egg, and let cook. Should take about 30 seconds
6. Add some frozen peas that you took out of freezer about 15 minutes before along with the spring onion
7. Cook for about another 30 seconds, stirring continuously
8. Add the rice (about 1 cup) and about a tsp of sesame oil
9. Add the dark soy / oyster sauce mixture and cook for about 30 seconds
10. Add about 1/8 tsp of MSG, trying to distribute evenly and a pinch of white or brown sugar
11. Cook for about another minute or two, stirring frequently
12. When the rice is bouncing around, flying out of the wok, it’s ready!
The Taste Test
This was a bit of a surprise. I really thought the oyster sauce would completely change (improve) the flavour, but it didn’t! It did taste different, but not noticeably better. Very odd. It was nice, but it didn’t capture the “takeaway” egg fried rice flavour I’m aiming for. I don’t think your typical takeaway egg fried rice has any oyster sauce added. I know it’s used in many Chinese / Asian recipes, but not egg fried rice. For the purposes of this experiment, I don’t consider that it’s needed.
Conclusion
Strangely, I preferred revision 2 from yesterday. I think for revision 4, I’ll try using jasmine rice instead of long grain that I’ve been using (and keep everything else the same). Personally, I don’t think it’ll change much, but to be thorough, I’ll try it. And the oyster sauce won’t be used. I think it’ll have a place in my Chinese cooking but not for this experiment which is to make takeaway quality egg fried rice at home.
