Basic Japanese Recipe: Fried Rice

Rice is the all important staple food in Japan and in many countries all over the world. In some countries, rice is so important that the people there can't imagine living without it. Rice has been developed by man ever since 5000 years ago, and now, there are over 2000 varieties of it.

Rice is boiled to cook, usually with a rice cooker or in a pan over fire. Rice can be used for many kinds of food, most of which are favorite delicacies all over the world. Rice can be eaten when newly cooked, and even as a leftover because it is used for fried rice.

Fried rice is cold rice that is fried in a pan with other ingredients, like ham, eggs, and peas. This originated from China, and later on made its way to Japan, the recipe mostly remaining intact despite the Japanese tendency to assimilate various customs into their culture.

A normal Japanese fried rice that is good for four servings usually has the following ingredients: Cooking oil, beaten egg, cold cooked rice, chopped scallops with green tops, cooked shrimp or crabmeat or other meat, frozen peas, and soy sauce. The oil is heated in the pan, where the egg is scrambled for a short period of time.

Then, just when the egg is nearly cooked, the rice is added to the pan together with the scallops, meat, and green peas. The whole thing is stirred until hot. Afterwards, soy sauce is added to give it more flavor. There are other ways to cook Japanese fried rice, but this is one of the most basic and shortest ways of cooking it.

It is important to note that the rice has to be cold, because warm rice will tend to clump together and not separate while being mixed. Usually, short grained white Japanese rice is used, though other kinds of rice are also all right.