Recipe

Yangzhou Fried Rice

4 servings · prep 15 min (plus day-old rice) · cook 10 min

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• lunch
• dinner
• chinese

Authored by the maintainer; classical Yangzhou *yangchow* method with char siu, shrimp, peas, scrambled egg.

Ingredients

the base

• 800 g cooked day-old jasmine rice (cold from the fridge)

the protein

• 150 g char siu (Cantonese roast pork), diced (or substitute Chinese-style cooked ham)
• 150 g small peeled shrimp
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten

the vegetables

• 150 g frozen peas (no need to thaw)
• 1 small carrot, finely diced (5 mm cubes)
• 4 scallions, finely sliced (whites and greens separated)

the aromatics

• 2 cloves garlic, minced — Tropea allium farm

the seasoning

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce — Yuasa shoyu brewery
• Sea salt to taste — Trapani salt pans
• 1/2 tsp white pepper — Kerala pepper estate

the finish

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

the cook

• 3 tbsp neutral oil (peanut or vegetable)

Method

1. Break up the cold rice with your hands or a wooden spoon so there are no clumps.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Add shrimp; stir-fry 60 seconds until just pink. Lift out and reserve. · 1 min
3. Add another 1 tbsp oil. Pour in beaten eggs, swirl, and scramble loosely for 30 seconds until just set. Push to one side of the wok. · 1 min
4. Add the remaining oil to the empty side. Throw in garlic, scallion whites, and carrot. Stir-fry 60 seconds. · 1 min
5. Add the cold rice. Press flat against the wok with the spatula, let it sit 20 seconds to catch heat, then toss and flip. Repeat for 90 seconds until every grain is hot and shiny — this is *wok hei*, the breath of the wok. · 2 min
6. Add char siu, peas, the cooked shrimp, and the scrambled egg pieces. Toss to combine.
7. Drizzle soy sauce around the edge of the wok (not over the rice — the soy hits hot metal and caramelises before mixing in). Season with salt and white pepper. Toss 30 seconds. · 1 min
8. Off heat. Stir in sesame oil and scallion greens. Plate immediately.

Notes

Yangzhou fried rice is the standard against which Cantonese restaurants
grade their fried rice. The classical version is precise — peas,
carrot, scrambled egg, shrimp, char siu, scallion — and rejects the
Western *fried-rice-as-leftovers-bin* improvisation.

Two non-negotiables: cold day-old rice (any hot or fresh rice ruins
the texture); high heat (a home stove rarely produces the wok hei of
a restaurant burner, but the wok must be screaming hot regardless).