Cantonese Fried Rice

Friday evening I had a quick dinner alone before yoga. There was about one bowl of leftover rice and I looked for ingredients in the fridge. Dry shiitake mushroom, dry prawn and Cantonese sausage are basic essentials of most of the Cantonese households. Cantonese like dry preserved food products. They have deeper flavour than their fresh existences. I soaked some dry shiitake mushrooms this morning before leaving home and they were ready to be cooked in the evening.

Serve 1

Ingredients –
Leftover rice, about 300g. Leftover rice is better than freshly cooked rice for fried rice because it’s not very moist;
Dry prawn, 25g, soaked in water for a few minutes;
Cantonese sausage, 60g, sliced thinly or diced. I used two types, one pork and one duck liver. These dry sausages are sweet and savoury, usually made of pork;
Dry shiitake mushroom, 100g, soaked in water till they turn tender. It should take hours;
Ginger, finely chopped, 1tbsp;
Green onion;
Coriander;
Dark and light soy sauce;
Salt and sugar.

How to do –
1. Fry the sausage first without adding any oil. Cantonese sausage is quite fatty, it releases fat while being heated. Fry till the fat of the sausage turns translucent and the edge of the sausage slices turns golden brown, spoon them out;
2. With the oil in pan, fry the dry prawn in medium heat for about 1 or 2 minutes, then take them out;
3. Fry the shiitake mushrooms with ginger, add a little soy sauce, salt, sugar and 2 tbsp of water, lid on, and cook the mushroom for a few minutes in medium heat. Spoon them out;
4. Add 2 tbsp of oil in hot pan, pour the rice in the pan, use the stir spoon to press the rice lump gently so as to break the lump. If the rice is too dry, add a little water, not too much, about 2 tbsp would be enough. Add in all ingredients just being cooked and keep frying in medium heat;
5. Season with 1 tsp of dark soy sauce and 2 tbsp of light soy sauce. Don’t overdoes, those dry ingredients are all salty. Keep stir-frying till all ingredients mixed well and rice coated with sauce;
6. Sprinkle some chopped green onion and coriander for garnishing.