Steam Eggs

Ingredients 

• 5-6 eggs
• sesame oil
• 1 stalk green onion finely cut
• white pepper
• soy sauce
• chicken stock/bouillon

Directions 

1. In a medium size bowl, beat 5-6 eggs and add 3/4 of water to the amount of eggs. Add 2 teaspoon salt and 1-2 tablespoon chicken stock/bouillon. Mix evenly
2. In a steamer, make sure water is boiling before putting the bowl in it. Close the lid and lower the heat to medium and let it steam for about 10-15 minutes or until done. You can use a small knife and puncture the egg in the middle to see if its still watery/done.
3. Once done, remove the bowl and sprinkle some green onions, a few dash of white pepper, a few drops of soy sauce and sesame oil. Serve hot

Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients 

• 3 cups of rice.
• 4-5 eggs scrambled
• 2 stalks green onion finely cut
• 1/4 julienned iceberg lettuce (optional)
• 1-2 sliced jalapeno (optional)
• white pepper
• soy sauce

Directions 

Fried rice is a very difficult dish to emulate from the ones we normally eat in a chinese restaurant or any restaurant that serves. Mainly because of the gas range fire that is used in restaurants. In many chinese food, a huge flame is required to heat the wok and also retain the heat when cooking. With a strong heat constantly supplied to the wok, it allows the food to capture a very light burnt aroma or "wok taste" which is why a lot of times people are confused with why they can't achieve the same flavors or texture from the food they get at PF Chang's or Panda Express (both of which I think is not representative of "real" chinese food).

One common knowledge that people seem to always say about cooking fried rice is using an overnight cooked steam rice. This is supposedly to create a better/perfect fried rice. True but only applies to fried rice being cooked at home. The reason this overnight rice is used is because when refrigerated, the cooked rice dries up and allows the individual rice to break up easily and also prevent burning to the wok. However, using a cool/cold rice when cooking fried rice will not provide the "wok taste" because it cools down the wok rapidly and the fire used at home isn't strong enough to raise the temperature back up.

My solution that I have found is this. When making the steam rice, use slightly less water than usual or if you're not confident on how much less, allow the rice to cook/warm a while and let it dry to reduce the amount of moisture in the rice. If possible, do not use a japanese rice as those produce a lot more moisture than most. Jasmine rice would be ideal.

1. Heat up wok with about 1/4 cup of oil until you can see a light smoke which is about 2-3 minutes. You can test by using a small piece of green onion. If it sizzles immediately, your oil is hot enough. 
2. Once oil is hot enough, add green onion, eggs and jalapeno(optional).
3. Stir the eggs like you would make a scrambled eggs. The eggs help with the rice from sticking and burning to the wok.
4. Once the eggs are cooked (not browned just fluffy), add the warm rice into the wok and mix evenly. 
5. Add about 3-4 tablespoon salt or to taste and a few dash of white pepper. Keep stirring the rice to allow the flavors to mix evenly. 
6. You may add about 2-3 tablespoon of soy sauce (balance this with salt) as you stir to give it a little color. 
7. Once everything is completely mixed, serve onto a plate and sprinkle some of the iceberg lettuce over the rice to give some texture and also flavor to the rice. Serve hot.

At step 5, before adding the rice, you may also add your choice of meat/seafood. Make sure your choice is pre-cooked/fried before adding it to the wok.