Yangzhou Fried Rice

Yangzhou fried rice is built on indica rice and fresh eggs, stir-fried with shrimp, ham, chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and green peas. The rice should stay separate and glossy, the colours bright and balanced, the taste savoury and never heavy.

Tradition traces it to a "broken-gold rice" (egg fried rice) of the Sui dynasty; in the early 19th century the Yangzhou prefect Yi Bingshou and his cook, borrowing the local idea of adding toppings, enriched it with many ingredients into the dish known today.

Served as a main dish in its own right, it appears at Huaiyang banquets and on everyday tables alike. It is eaten hot, at its best when the grains are loose and the dish light rather than oily.

Its soul lies in the heat and timing of the wok—egg coating each grain, ingredients finely diced and evenly tossed—to achieve the bright, gold-flecked texture.