Yangzhou fried rice

Source: Fuchsia Dunlop

Ingredients:

• 25g raw port fillet
• 25g ham or salami
• 25g cold, cooked chicken
• 2 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, stalks discarded
• 25g bamboo shoots (optional)
• 3 spring onions, green parts only
• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk (optional)
• salt
• ground white pepper
• 5tbsp cooking oil
• 25g small peeled prawns, fresh or frozen, cooked or uncooked
• 25g fresh or frozen peas, peeled broad beans or cooked green soybeans
• 2tsp Shaoxing wine
• 200ml chicken stock
• 600g cooked, cooled Thai fragrant rice

Method:

Cut the pork, ham or salami, chicken, soaked mushrooms and bamboo shoot, if using, into small dice. Finely slice the spring onion greens. Beat the egg with salt and pepper to taste (add an extra yolk if you wish to give the cooked egg an intense yellow colour)

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the raw pork and prawns and stir-fry briefly, until the pork is pale. Add the ham, chicken, mushrooms, peas or beans and bamboo shoot, if using, and continue to stir-fry for a minute or two, until everything is hot and sizzling. Add the Shaoxing wine, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt to taste, then pour off into a bowl.

Rinse and dry the wok. Return it to the heat with the remaining oil. When the oil is hot, add the beaten egg mixture and swirl around the base of the work. When the egg is half-cooked, add all the rice and stir-fry, using your ladle or wok scoop to break up any lumps.

When the rice is very hot and smells delicious (it will make a popping sound around the edges at this stage), add the bowlful of prepared ingredients in their stock sauce. Mix well and continue to stir-fry for another 30 seconds or so, seasoning with salt or pepper if you wish. Finally, stir in the spring onion greens and serve.