On Jun 11, 9:44 am, Orlando Enrique Fiol > wrote:
> wrote:
> >The other main difference between fried rice and chow mein is that I
> >seldom use any of the sauces or condiments with fried rice. I'll put
> >the soy sauce, chili sauce, oyster sauce, etc. on the table, not in
> >the wok.
>
> I certainly like my fried rice dry, but think it at least needs soy sauce and
> sesame oil for flavor.
>
Often I will add a few drops of sesame oil to the egg when I scramble
it in the wok. Sometimes the components of the dish will have had a
little soy added--for example, I might cut up a leftover grilled
chicken thigh and stir fry it briefly with soy and ginger to flavor it
in preparation for the dish.

> >In contrast, I always create a little sauce in the pan for
> >the chow mein. What kind of sauce varies with the dish's components
> >and my mood, but for some reason it just seems like it needs it. -
>
> How much do these improvised sauces vary? Do you thicken them with corn starch
> or water chestnut powder?
>
Most of the time they are nothing special, just the standard soy
sauce, rice wine, garlic and ginger. Sometimes the other components
of the dish will seem to want more--could be black bean sauce, or
oyster sauce, or chile sauce, or even hoisin sauce. Occasionally I'll
have spicy bean curd on hand and I'll stir some of that in
(particularly if the dish will include green beans or long beans, with
which I think it pairs really well). I thicken them with corn starch
about half the time, maybe less. All of this is just personal
preference, not because of any rules or tradition. -aem