Sugar Is The Secret Ingredient For Fried Rice That Rivals Takeout - Tasting Table (2024)

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Sugar Is The Secret Ingredient For Fried Rice That Rivals Takeout - Tasting Table? ›

Not only can a touch of sugar build complexity and layers of flavor in the satisfying dish, but the right amount of sugar can help create flavor complexities that result from caramelization, a reaction that occurs when sugar is exposed to heat, changes color, and results in tasting notes that edge away from sugary ...

The sugar won't just make your fried rice taste like you purchased it, it will also make it look like you bought it as well. This is because the sugar caramelizes the rice, which gives it that light hue you often find on fried rice made in restaurants.

The answer: high heat, expert tosses, and something known as 'wok hei. ' As J. Kenji López-Alt writes for Serious Eats, expert cooking with a wok (and the gas range it requires) is one of the main reasons that fried rice from a Chinese restaurant tastes so much better than what you can make at home.

To give your dish that signature fried rice taste, you'll need to drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, but feel free to use as much or as little as you wish. You can even mix in things like garlic powder, ginger root, or Sriracha sauce and chili pepper for a bit of a kick.

Eggs: Which add great flavor, texture and protein. Carrots, onions, green onions and peas: This is the base mix of veggies that I always use for fried rice, but feel free to add in other stir-fry veggies you love (see ideas below). Garlic: Freshly-minced. Soy sauce: I created this recipe using low-sodium soy sauce.

Though you might not be able to pinpoint the sweet inclusion while digging into a take-out box and piling spoonsful of fluffy rice into your mouth, the addition of sugar is a common culinary technique practiced by restaurants.

Also, sugar is used extensively in Chinese cooking, not only as a sweetener, but more as a spice. A little added to a savoury dish can bring out otherwise hidden flavours. It also has medicinal attributes according to traditional Chinese medicine.

Why does the Chinese food in restaurants taste better than that cooked at home? Restaurants will have a long list of ingredients prepped, including stocks, sauces, lots of different spices, dark, light, and regular soy sauce, etc.

Chinese fried rice uses ingredients like garlic, ginger, white pepper, msg, and soy sauce to give it an incredibly aromatic flavor with lots of umami! Additionally, I love cooking my fried rice dishes in a wok to add a smoky element or wok hei to the final dish.

Chinese cooks normally use soybean oil, vegetable oil, or peanut oil, all of which have a high smoke point. Peanut oil usually has a pleasant nutty flavor and is suitable not only for stir-frying but also for deep-frying. Canola oil, which has a high smoke point but a neutral flavor, is also a good choice.

What is fried rice syndrome? ›

Fried rice syndrome is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus cereus, which is present in these types of starchy foods prior to cooking. Bacillus cereus is a heat-resistant bacteria, so even recooking foods that have not been appropriately refrigerated can result in food poisoning.

- Freshly cooked rice is hot, steamy, very moist and a little sticky ? this will make your fried rice clumpy and soggy. - Day-old rice is dryer and will give your fried rice a good texture and will bring out the individual flavours of the other ingredients.

The sugar interferes with this process and since it is not water being absorbed into the rice and a more dense fluid being absorbed by said rice then takes longer.

Sugars help many foods to be more palatable, improving their flavour and mouthfeel. They also help foods to last longer, add viscosity and are used as a bulking agent.

Fried white rice can indeed spike blood sugar levels rapidly due to its high glycemic index and quick absorption. Opt for healthier cooking methods like steaming or boiling, and consider incorporating brown rice or quinoa for better blood sugar management.