The Perfect Way To Cook Fried Rice, According To Science (foodandwine.com) 54
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Food & Wine Magazine: Fried rice is one of those dishes where the name practically tells you how to make it. But the key to cooking perfect fried rice is in the details: not just the ingredients but also the equipment and technique. Traditionally, the dish is made in a wok with chefs continually tossing the rice to avoid caramelization and burning. It led a lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology to wonder, is there an optimal way to cook fried rice? Turns out, yes, and the pros have pretty much nailed it -- though the researchers do have a suggestion. Published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the study "The physics of tossing fried rice" delivers on what the title promises -- analyzing the technique of five professional chefs to better understand their cooking technique.
[The] research confirmed that handling a wok is tough business. In the technique used by professionals, "The key is using the stove rim as the fulcrum of [a] see-saw motion," according to the paper, resulting in the rice being tossed at a rapid 2.7 times per second. "We show that the wok is always contacting the stove and getting support from it so that the chef wouldn't have to lift it," Hungtang Ko, a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, who co-authored the study, stated. "Most importantly, we show that the wok motions adopted by the chefs are really some sort of optimal [motion] for the rice grains to jump the farthest." And yet, after developing a mathematical model that successfully described the wok tossing process, Ko and co-author David Hu, the professor who runs the lab, came up with some potential improvements. "Tossing is a combination of two independent motions, a side to side motion and a see-saw motion, allowing rice grains to slide around the wok as well as to jump off the surface," the conclusion of the paper states. "We identify two critical parameters that chefs can vary: the frequency of tossing and the phase lag between the two motions applied. By filming professional chefs, we found that, at the frequency chosen by chefs, the phase difference performed is optimal for mixing. We suggest that future chefs increase the frequency of motion, which may enable rice to jump further, and promote cooling and mixing." Ko and Hu point out that 64.5 percent of Chinese restaurant chefs complain of shoulder pain, likely in part to all that wok work.
As a result, Ko believes his research might help "guide the design of robots that can mix granular materials efficiently and rapidly." He adds: "It also paves ways for designing assistive robotic devices that chefs can wear to reduce the burden from the arm muscles."
[The] research confirmed that handling a wok is tough business. In the technique used by professionals, "The key is using the stove rim as the fulcrum of [a] see-saw motion," according to the paper, resulting in the rice being tossed at a rapid 2.7 times per second. "We show that the wok is always contacting the stove and getting support from it so that the chef wouldn't have to lift it," Hungtang Ko, a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, who co-authored the study, stated. "Most importantly, we show that the wok motions adopted by the chefs are really some sort of optimal [motion] for the rice grains to jump the farthest." And yet, after developing a mathematical model that successfully described the wok tossing process, Ko and co-author David Hu, the professor who runs the lab, came up with some potential improvements. "Tossing is a combination of two independent motions, a side to side motion and a see-saw motion, allowing rice grains to slide around the wok as well as to jump off the surface," the conclusion of the paper states. "We identify two critical parameters that chefs can vary: the frequency of tossing and the phase lag between the two motions applied. By filming professional chefs, we found that, at the frequency chosen by chefs, the phase difference performed is optimal for mixing. We suggest that future chefs increase the frequency of motion, which may enable rice to jump further, and promote cooling and mixing." Ko and Hu point out that 64.5 percent of Chinese restaurant chefs complain of shoulder pain, likely in part to all that wok work.
As a result, Ko believes his research might help "guide the design of robots that can mix granular materials efficiently and rapidly." He adds: "It also paves ways for designing assistive robotic devices that chefs can wear to reduce the burden from the arm muscles."
Great advice there guys (Score:5, Funny)
Ko and Hu point out that 64.5 percent of Chinese restaurant chefs complain of shoulder pain, likely in part to all that wok work.
We suggest that future chefs increase the frequency of motion
"You're not crippled yet. Work harder!"
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Man, I just hit '5' on the microwave and it comes out great.
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Try hitting 1 1 2 3 first.
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Or 4-2-3-1 on a Coke machine.
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surely you meant "wok harder!"?
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Y U no doctor yet?
nerds over-complicate everything (Score:2)
This article reads like bathroom graffiti in engineering school.
Sort of like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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It probably was, I don't recommend clicking anything but I did glance at the domain name and it sounds pretty bad.
hate these crap articles (Score:2, Interesting)
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I don't cook everything perfectly nor do they come out exactly how I want them. I need practice and knowledge, so any practical tips are welcome. I'll try them out for a bit and then decide if I want to go back to my old way.
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I actually have been cooking scrambled eggs wrong for the longest time. They were edible, but now they taste better.
Guess what: You're allowed to improve. Try it sometimes, you might like it.
Re:hate these crap articles (Score:5, Interesting)
This wok thing is still the "skateboard ramp" technique you use in western cooking. Slide the food forward, let it come up the ramp and back down. Use the grate for support, and a steel pan, without any of this teflon rubbish.
To make an omelette without a spatula, just ladle a small pool of butter into a small hot skillet, pour your eggs onto that, then vibrate the skillet handle until it sets up, then you can slide it forward and do the flip. Looks fancy, is actually super easy. Plus the eggs will never stick.
(Citation: once upon a million years ago, I worked in restaurants as a sauté cook, and I had to make omelettes to order for customers, in front of them, on Sunday brunches. Not what I wanted to do for a career, but it taught me a valuable skill, and I got paid for it. I've also worked in a Chinese restaurant, as well as doing French and Italian cuisine.)
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I prefer cast iron pans you pleb! :D
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This isn’t saying you are doing it wrong. But finding the optimal balance of something measurable.
This doesn’t have us taking our Chinese food box and opening it up so everything spills all over the place.
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I think the surprise here is that they really were cooking it the right way after all.
But I was disappointed to see no comments about "wok like a man".
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"there is no optimal or universally perfect way"
Let's say every time you cooked fried rice you punched yourself in the crotch. Then scientists come along and say "If you don't punch yourself in the crotch the fried rice comes out exactly the same". That constitutes an objectively improved cooking method.
20 years of being a pest (Score:1)
Have you considered starting your own blog? Preferably one that is far far away from here.
Makes sense (Score:3)
This article helps to explain why we can't achieve this optimal fried rice at home. The technique involved sounds very specialized and probably takes awhile to get right. That being said, there are other things at play besides a very specialized technique - including having a gas stove (for very high heat/rapid cooking), a proper wok, etc. But I think if you combine everything - a skilled chef, proper equipment, etc. you will get that delicious fried rice most of us crave.
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It is easy to make good fried rice.
1) Use long grain rice
2) Undercook it by a few minutes
3) Leave to drip dry for an hour in a sieve
4) (Assuming egg fried) Use a tablespoon of oil, fry an egg, in effect scramble fry it in a wok.
5) Add the rice to fry for a couple of minutes, constantly stirring it. ADD SALT.
6) Add a good splash of light soy sauce via the edge ok wok (so its hot when it hits the rice)
7) Add a small amount of dark soy sauce via the edge (as above).
8) Stir and cook a minute of so more.
9) Add s
I grew up around Chinese restaurant kitchens. (Score:5, Informative)
You need forearms like Popeye. Those guys have serious hand and forearm strength from tossing huge steel woks all day long, even if there's a trick to it.
Here are some hints for the home cook, and they involve science too.
As anyone who's made Italian risotto knows, handling rice while it cooks causes the starch to break down and the rice become soupy or gluey, which is what you want in risotto, but not in fried rice. Pre-soaking and/or rinsing the raw rice will wash away some of the superficial starch and make the cooked rice easier to handle. I usually don't bother but if I'm planning on making fried rice later I always do. Also, a long grain rice will be less sticky than a shorter grain rice like you'd use for risotto, sushi, or zongzi. That is because a greater proportion of the starches in long grain rice are chain-like amylose rather than highly branched amylopectin. Amylopectin swells up and can burst the starch granules, causing more starch to leak into your cooking liquid.
When you cook rice (or pasta for that matter), the starch molecules unravel and form a gel [wikipedia.org] with water. If you put that rice in the fridge, a phase change happens and it gets hard again. The food science term for this is "retrogradation". Refrigerated rice often appears dry, but the water is still in there, sequestered what amounts to frozen starch. If you rewarm the rice, those crystals will melt and the rice will get soft again.
If you try to fry hot, freshly cooked rice it'll get really sticky and gluey. Instead, use day old rice that's been in the fridge. That's what fried rice is *for*: using up leftovers.
When I taught my kids to cook, I taught them to think in terms of what I call"master recipes" -- simple, basic dishes you can adapt to whatever you have on hand. That way when you get home from work you don't have to follow some elaborate recipe or go through some kind of mise en place ritual. You can cook pretty much on autopilot. Fried rice works perfectly for that. After you've followed a recipe a few times you can pretty much throw the recipe away and use random stuff you have in your fridge.
I usually keep some Chinese roast pork in my fridge, but that's because I know at some point in the week I'll be making fried rice. You can use almost any leftover meat or vegetables. Sausages, chicken, beef, leftover broccoli or string beans all work. Or add nothing. Just rice fried with a little sliced ginger, garlic sesame oil and oyster sauce is good. You really can't do it *wrong*, at least so wrong that you end up with something inedible. Nor do you need any special equipment. A wok is ideal, but only because it's easy to cook *lots* of rice. Any frying pan works well enough if it's large enough for the quantity you're cooking.
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After you've followed a recipe a few times you can pretty much throw the recipe away
My paternal grandmother told me, "A recipe is for following once." My maternal grandmother couldn't cook without one, if she lost a recipe card she didn't cook that dish until my mom replaced it from her copies.
use random stuff you have in your fridge.
Any time I make stir fry my wife asks, "Did the refrigerator need cleaning?"
The best fried rice I've eaten wasn't from a wok. (Score:5, Insightful)
One of the local Japanese hibachi grills makes the best fried rice I've ever eaten, and they make it on the hibachi grill. No wok, just a heated flat surface.
This paper is pretty much bullshit any way you look at it - they decided the wok was the only valid method, and use a samaple size of only five chefs? All who specifically used woks to cook the rice? They started with their hypothesis ("woks are the best") and not only ignored any data that said otherwise, but specifically didn't even research anything else.
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One of the local Japanese hibachi grills makes the best fried rice I've ever eaten, and they make it on the hibachi grill. No wok, just a heated flat surface.
This paper is pretty much bullshit any way you look at it - they decided the wok was the only valid method, and use a samaple size of only five chefs? All who specifically used woks to cook the rice? They started with their hypothesis ("woks are the best") and not only ignored any data that said otherwise, but specifically didn't even research anything else.
All true.
The Article should be titled "How selected Chinese Chefs cook Fried Rice using a Common Wok Technique"
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Not to mention this: "continually tossing the rice to avoid caramelization"
Slight carmelization (without burning) is one of the best parts of good fried rice imho!
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Also I love fried rice, but a "best" fried rice is subjective at best...
Arsenic in rice? (An issue connected with rice.) (Score:2, Offtopic)
There is information available online about rice having the element Arsenic, a poison. I've done research and have been unable to find an explanation that is fully logical.
Arsenic may be in soil or water. My best understanding is that Arsenic is in every plant that grows in soil with Arsenic or water with Arsenic.
My best understanding is that there is no special connection between rice and Arsenic. But there are many more articles online that discuss Arsenic in rice tha
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Natural soils contain arsenic compounds (substances that include arsenic). Different compounds with different properties, in widely varying levels depending on soil type & prior use.
Rice tends to absorb (read: concentrate in itself) some of those compounds more easily than other food crops. Varying by rice variety, and of course depends on specific compounds & how much of it is present in the soil.
With many arsenic compounds considered toxic and/or carcinogenic, this is enough for food safety a
Alwin, thanks. Official support? Japanese lives. (Score:2)
I have not found any government agency that says that, however.
The Japanese eat a lot of rice and have the 2nd longest life expectancy: List of countries by life expectancy. [wikipedia.org]
And, as I said, any plant grown in soil with Arsenic would have Arsenic in it, I'm guessing. I have found nothing special about rice.
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Here's one relevant article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... [nih.gov]
"Paddy rice (Oryza sativa) is particularly effective, compared to other cereals, at accumulating arsenic (As) in shoot and grain"
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Arsenic is only poisonous at poisonous levels. At non-poisonous levels, like the levels found in rise, it is non-poisonous. It is okay to consume non-poisonous levels of arsenic because those levels are not poisonous.
The Perfect Way to Cook Fried Rice (Score:2)
It's just like I've always said - (Score:2)
Hii (Score:1)
Re: Hii (Score:1)
One of my favorites (Score:2)
...when some western scientist / foodie approaches a deeply cultural and long-history dish with "well here's the PERFECT way to make it according to my numbers".
Ha ha ha.
Ancient foods like fried rice, beer, and mole (to use another example I just encountered) likely are universal only in general concept. Historically, they varied widely from valley to valley, community to community, each convinced theirs was "the best version". In my experience, THAT is the best way to eat those various foods - sampling a
I can make mediocre fried rice at home.... (Score:1)