Tastes like home.
Every time I make it now, I’m taken right back to those early days and it feels like I’m cooking not just for myself, but also to honour the legacy and lessons my dad passed down to me.
Vincent Lim says…
Special fried rice will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s one of those deceptively simple dishes that truly tests a chef’s skill. Fried rice might look like the easiest thing in the world to whip up, but in reality, it’s also one of the hardest to get right. When I was younger, my dad made me train for years before I was even allowed to serve this particular fried rice to customers. It wasn’t about memorising steps or throwing ingredients into a wok – it was about mastering timing, heat control and the feel of the dish.
There aren’t many ingredients in this recipe, and the flavours come entirely from those few simple components. There’s no heavy sauce or elaborate garnish to hide behind, just pure technique and respect for the process. That’s why every grain of rice, every wisp of wok hei, has to be perfect. My dad’s high standards pushed me to a level of discipline I didn’t know I had at the time, but it’s a discipline I carry with me in everything I cook today.
Fast forward 15 years and I can tell good fried rice from bad just by the smell, it’s that ingrained in me. This recipe isn’t just food on a plate, it’s years of sweat, burns, trial and error, and quiet moments of pride when I finally got it right. It’s a piece of my upbringing, a reminder of countless hours spent standing next to my dad’s wok station, learning to respect both the simplicity and complexity of cooking. Every time I make it now, I’m taken right back to those early days and it feels like I’m cooking not just for myself, but also to honour the legacy and lessons my dad passed down to me.
Ingredients
Serves 2
Easy Char Siu Pork
500g skin-on pork belly, cut into long strips (approx 5cm wide)
2 tablespoons maltose syrup
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon doubanjiang (spicy bean paste)
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon YumYum seasoning or MSG
¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
large pinch of Chinese five-spice
large pinch of white pepper
1 tablespoon mei gui lu ji (Chinese rose cooking wine)
2–3 drops red food colouring
Rice
300g jasmine rice, cooked
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 spring onion thinly sliced, greens and whites separated
2 tablespoons char siu pork
2 tablespoons cooked chicken
2 tablespoons leg ham or tinned ham
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
1 teaspoon YumYum seasoning or MSG
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Method
Place all ingredients for the char siu pork in a large bowl. Wearing food‑safe gloves, thoroughly mix the sauces into the pork until it is evenly coated. Set the pork aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Heat a large frying pan over low heat. Once heated, add the marinated pork to the pan and cook, turning occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Ensure the sauces absorb into the meat, creating a sticky coating, and that the pork is cooked through completely. Turn the pork regularly as it cooks to prevent the sauce from burning. Once the pork is fully cooked, remove it from the pan and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
Cook the jasmine rice in your rice cooker. Freshly cooked rice works best for this recipe, so there’s no need to use chilled or day-old rice.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok over medium–high heat. Add the sliced spring onion whites and stir-fry until fragrant. Next, add char siu pork, cooked chicken and ham to the wok, stir-frying for about 1–2 minutes until the proteins are heated through.
Push the meat to one side of the wok and add the beaten eggs to the other side. Let the eggs cook undisturbed for a few seconds, then gently scramble them until just set. Once the eggs are ready, add the freshly cooked jasmine rice to the wok. Let it sit for about 5 seconds, undisturbed, before giving the wok a quick toss. Use the back of your wok ladle to break up any clumps of rice.
Sprinkle the chicken bouillon powder and YumYum or MSG over the rice, tossing everything together to combine. Drizzle the light soy sauce around the edges of the wok, allowing it to sizzle and mix with the rice. Toss the rice once more to ensure even seasoning. Add the sliced spring onion greens, giving the dish a final toss to combine all the ingredients.
Finally, drizzle the sesame oil over the fried rice and give it one last toss before serving hot. Enjoy!
VINCENT LIM’S THE WOLF OF WOK STREET IS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH HARDIE GRANT BOOKS.
Published in ed#748
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