It is my favourite take out dish.
But i have no idea on how much oil they use. Do they fry their rice in
oil as well or are just the vegetables stir fried in oil and mixed with
the rice.
Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
What could be the secret?

On 8 Apr 2005 19:33:11 -0700, "Toddlers_mom" >
wrote:

>It is my favourite take out dish.
>But i have no idea on how much oil they use. Do they fry their rice in
>oil as well or are just the vegetables stir fried in oil and mixed with
>the rice.
>Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
>But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
>What could be the secret?

From Top Secret Recipes.com here's Benihanas Japanese Fried Rice.

I would worry more about the sodium in the soy sauce than the amount
of oil used. I've made this recipe and it's very good.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes/friedrce.htm


Benihana Japanese Fried Rice

4 cups cooked converted or parboiled rice (1 cup uncooked)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons finely grated carrot
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup diced onion (1/2 small onion)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
salt
pepper

1. Cook rice following instructions on package (Bring 2 cups water to
a boil, add rice and a dash of salt, reduce heat and simmer in covered
saucepan for 20 minutes). Pour rice into a large bowl to let it cool
in the refrigerator.
2. Scramble the eggs in a small pan over medium heat. Separate the
scrambled chunks of egg into small pea-size bits while cooking.
3. When rice has cooled to near room temperature, add peas, grated
carrot, scrambled egg and diced onion to the bowl. Carefully toss all
of the ingredients together.
4. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over
medium/high heat.
5. When butter has completely melted, dump the bowl of rice and other
ingredients into the pan and add soy sauce plus a dash of salt and
pepper. Cook rice for 6-8 minutes over heat, stirring often.
Serves 4.




Rusty

--

"How can anyone govern a nation that | http://www.geocities.com/minuteman_missile/
has 246 different kinds of cheese? | Minuteman ICBM History Website


- President Charles De Gaulle of France

Toddlers_mom wrote:
> It is my favourite take out dish.
> But i have no idea on how much oil they use. Do they fry their rice in
> oil as well or are just the vegetables stir fried in oil and mixed
> with the rice.

*Very* generally speaking, the rice is day old cold steamed rice. It IS
tossed with the stir-fried vegetables and whatever sauce they use but the
oil content is not that high. The take-out you get isn't dripping in
grease, is it?

> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.

Apparently you haven't been overseas. I saw plenty of hefty Chinese folks
in SE Asia.

> What could be the secret?

Good ingredients and very quick stir-frying in a *very* hot wok.

Jill

Rusty wrote:
> On 8 Apr 2005 19:33:11 -0700, "Toddlers_mom" >
> wrote:
>
>> It is my favourite take out dish.
>> But i have no idea on how much oil they use. Do they fry their rice
>> in oil as well or are just the vegetables stir fried in oil and
>> mixed with the rice.
>> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
>> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
>> What could be the secret?
>
> From Top Secret Recipes.com here's Benihanas Japanese Fried Rice.
>
> I would worry more about the sodium in the soy sauce than the amount
> of oil used. I've made this recipe and it's very good.
>
> http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes/friedrce.htm
>
>
> Benihana Japanese Fried Rice
>
> 4 cups cooked converted or parboiled rice (1 cup uncooked)
> 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
> 2 tablespoons finely grated carrot
> 2 eggs, beaten
> 1/2 cup diced onion (1/2 small onion)
> 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
> 2 tablespoons soy sauce
> salt
> pepper
>
> 1. Cook rice following instructions on package (Bring 2 cups water to
> a boil, add rice and a dash of salt, reduce heat and simmer in covered
> saucepan for 20 minutes). Pour rice into a large bowl to let it cool
> in the refrigerator.
> 2. Scramble the eggs in a small pan over medium heat. Separate the
> scrambled chunks of egg into small pea-size bits while cooking.
> 3. When rice has cooled to near room temperature, add peas, grated
> carrot, scrambled egg and diced onion to the bowl. Carefully toss all
> of the ingredients together.
> 4. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over
> medium/high heat.
> 5. When butter has completely melted, dump the bowl of rice and other
> ingredients into the pan and add soy sauce plus a dash of salt and
> pepper. Cook rice for 6-8 minutes over heat, stirring often.
> Serves 4.
>
>
>
>
> Rusty

You need day-old rice for fried rice or else the rice breaks down in the wok
too quickly. I would also add ginger and garlic and, of course, a dash of
sesame oil doesn't hurt either.

kili

kilikini wrote:

>
> You need day-old rice for fried rice or else the rice breaks down in the
> wok
> too quickly. I would also add ginger and garlic and, of course, a dash of
> sesame oil doesn't hurt either.
>

A rice cooker makes perfect rice for fried rice. I leave it for about an
hour to reduce moisture content.

If you don't have a rice cooker you can use day old rice, prefably put in a
colander in the refrigerator. The low humidity of the refrigerator has the
same effect ie reducing moisture content.

gtoomey

Rusty wrote:
>
> From Top Secret Recipes.com here's Benihanas Japanese Fried Rice.
>
> I would worry more about the sodium in the soy sauce than the amount
> of oil used. I've made this recipe and it's very good. [snip link]

> Benihana Japanese Fried Rice [snip recipe]
>
This is a very unusual recipe in that it uses butter rather than oil.
Japanese and Chinese rarely use butter; peanut or soybean oil or even
lard would be typical. The butter is probably why the recipe calls for
a moderately high heat instead of the 'as high as you can get it' that
would usually be the case. The recipe also has no meat (or shrimp),
which is not unusual but not most common, either. And the recipe calls
for quite a lot of soy sauce for the amount of rice. Non-meat fried
rice most often has no soy sauce added during the cooking.

None of this means that the dish is not very good to eat. Benihana is
a chain of American restaurants that has done well by providing tasty
food and entertaining showmanship. To their credit, they don't claim
to be serving "traditional" Japanese food. But if the OP is curious
about how much fat is in ordinary fried rice, this recipe is not
typical. The answer to the original post, imho, is that decent fried
rice will use about 2 to 3 TB of oil dispersed through 4+ cups of rice,
meat and vegetables. If your takeout place gives you fried rice that
tastes excessively fatty, switch restaurants. -aem

Toddlers_mom wrote:
> It is my favourite take out dish.
> But i have no idea on how much oil they use. Do they fry their rice
in
> oil as well or are just the vegetables stir fried in oil and mixed
with
> the rice.
> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.

After checking nearly a dozen recipes it seems 2 Tbls oil per 4 cups
cooked rice is typical... everything fried together. Fried rice is not
a very hihg fat dish. The secret is in using rather dry rice and a
very hot pan. Chinese restaurnts prepare a huge quantity at once but
keep it moist throuhgout the day by keeping it covered and constantly
adding a bit of broth.

> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.

The Chinese are no less over weight than Americans, in fact over weight
Chinese are more typically morbidly obese.


My theory on why over weightedness has become so prevalent in the US is
due to Selective Darwinism... more and more people are selecting mates
whose earning potential is higher and therefore they are more and more
discarding those who are in better physical condition. Most typically
those who labor for a living are in far better physical condtion than
desk dwellers. And most typically desk dwellers earn far more than
physical laborers. Naturally there are always exceptions but those are
exceptions, not the rule... second and third generation desk dwellers
are pretty much guaranteed to produce fatsos. Unfortunately this
society does not reward physical well being. Industry hires the young
and physically fit specimens for relatively low pay. I have a neighbor
whose son is a plumber's helper. He's very physically fit and is
always showing off how much he can lift , but has the IQ of a tree. I
keep telling him to get an education, because when his physical ability
fades, and indeed it most assuredly will, his boss will trade him in
for a newer fork lift.

Sheldon

In article . com>,
"Toddlers_mom" > wrote:

> It is my favourite take out dish.
> But i have no idea on how much oil they use. Do they fry their rice in
> oil as well or are just the vegetables stir fried in oil and mixed with
> the rice.
> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
> What could be the secret?

Fried rice is typically fried in oil. Is this healthy? It depends on the
oil and whether or not you can handle the high carbs. Come to a China
Town in any major city and you will find some overweight Chinese.

"Sheldon" > wrote:

>My theory on why over weightedness has become so prevalent in the US is
>due to Selective Darwinism...

I've heard a lot of BS theories about overweight America on various
"news" shows. Your theory is one I never thought of, and makes more
sense than any I have ever heard. Sheldon, ya gonna be a philosopher
next? <G>

On Sat, 9 Apr 2005 03:11:26 -0500, jmcquown > wrote:

>> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
>> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
>
> Apparently you haven't been overseas. I saw plenty of hefty Chinese folks
> in SE Asia.

Being overseas doesn't necessarily lead you to that conclusion. In fact,
I'd think it would lead one to the conclusion the OP suggested. I've been to
SE Asia, and fairly recently, too. Malaysia's Chinese population was _quite_
slender as well as petite. My sister, who is rather small (ask Damsel, who's
seen her in person) at 5' 3" and maybe all of 125 lbs. (if that) was larger
than 85% of the women we saw, and that's a _conservative_ estimate. The
dress she purchased off the rack was a size medium. Our idea of XL size
(men OR women) barely exists over there, even in areas used to tourism.

My overseas experiences have obviously been different. We were in an
area with a significant Chinese population, did a lot of traveling in both
popular tourist spots and suburbs of KL where you wouldn't lay eyes on a
tourist for miles, and throughout our entire 3-week trip, I saw less than
half a dozen people I'd categorize as "hefty", nevermind obese. This would be
in 2003, very recent memory.

The diet generally eaten by my relatives is high carb, high sugar,
lots of seafood and poultry, almost no red meat, little dairy, and low to
moderate fat. Portions are small, meals are frequent. Three of the visiting
party including myself and Erik actually _lost_ weight while we were over
there due to a combination of several factors, which included the heat.

Ariane
--
Dysfunction: The only consistent feature of all your dissatisfying
relationships is you.
http://www.despair.com/demotivators/dysfunction.html

A little birdie told me that Ariane Jenkins > said:

>My sister, who is rather small (ask Damsel, who's
>seen her in person) at 5' 3" and maybe all of 125 lbs. (if that) was larger
>than 85% of the women we saw, and that's a _conservative_ estimate.

Yeah, I can vouch for Ariane's little sis. She's so petite I wanted to
slap her. LOL! Naw, the whole Ariane clan was delightful to visit with.
Maybe we can do it again sometime? I'm sure I can still belch garlic with
the same enthusiasm as last year. <EG>

Carol
--
Coming at you live, from beautiful Lake Woebegon

Ariane Jenkins wrote:
> On Sat, 9 Apr 2005 03:11:26 -0500, jmcquown >
> wrote:
>
>>> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
>>> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
>>
>> Apparently you haven't been overseas. I saw plenty of hefty Chinese
>> folks in SE Asia.
>
> Being overseas doesn't necessarily lead you to that conclusion.

It led me to that conclusion. There was a large population of Chinese
people in Bangkok (and Malaysia) and while the men were thin as rails the
women all tended to be hefty. I'm not saying morbidly obese; rather plump.

> In fact, I'd think it would lead one to the conclusion the OP
> suggested. I've been to SE Asia, and fairly recently, too.

True, I haven't been there in 30 years.

> Malaysia's Chinese population was _quite_ slender as well as petite.
> My sister, who is rather small (ask Damsel, who's seen her in person)
> at 5' 3" and maybe all of 125 lbs. (if that) was larger than 85% of
> the women we saw, and that's a _conservative_ estimate. The dress
> she purchased off the rack was a size medium. Our idea of XL size
> (men OR women) barely exists over there, even in areas used to
> tourism.
>
> Ariane

Dinner tonight will be steamed Jasmine rice and sauteed sea scallops

Jill

AlleyGator wrote:
> "Sheldon" > wrote:
>
> >My theory on why over weightedness has become so prevalent in the US
is
> >due to Selective Darwinism...
>
> I've heard a lot of BS theories about overweight America on various
> "news" shows. Your theory is one I never thought of, and makes more
> sense than any I have ever heard. Sheldon, ya gonna be a philosopher
> next? <G>

Shhh... not so loud... they're gonna want me for the next Pope. hehe

Sheldo-Socratic II

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 13:48:26 -0500, jmcquown > wrote:
>
> It led me to that conclusion. There was a large population of Chinese
> people in Bangkok (and Malaysia) and while the men were thin as rails the
> women all tended to be hefty. I'm not saying morbidly obese; rather plump.

I'm not sure where in Malaysia you went, but that certainly could not
be said to describe the Chinese women we saw. I'd say the majority of them
didn't break 100 lbs. That's not even plump in my book, not even when a
person is below 5'4".

>> In fact, I'd think it would lead one to the conclusion the OP
>> suggested. I've been to SE Asia, and fairly recently, too.
>
> True, I haven't been there in 30 years.

It just seemed like your experience was a bit of an anomaly. I don't
know how widely you were able to travel, since your experience there
was during your childhood, but perhaps that makes a difference. Our sampling
was a fairly wide range of places including some that tourists generally don't
see. Everywhere, I was struck by how tiny people were, it was just that
obvious.

Ariane
--
Dysfunction: The only consistent feature of all your dissatisfying
relationships is you.
http://www.despair.com/demotivators/dysfunction.html

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 15:27:31 GMT, Ariane Jenkins
> wrote:

>On Sat, 9 Apr 2005 03:11:26 -0500, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>>> Taste wise, the guess would be that they add lot of oil.
>>> But I have seen very rarely chinese people being overweight.
>>
>> Apparently you haven't been overseas. I saw plenty of hefty Chinese folks
>> in SE Asia.
>
> Being overseas doesn't necessarily lead you to that conclusion. In fact,
>I'd think it would lead one to the conclusion the OP suggested. I've been to
>SE Asia, and fairly recently, too. Malaysia's Chinese population was _quite_
>slender as well as petite. My sister, who is rather small (ask Damsel, who's
>seen her in person) at 5' 3" and maybe all of 125 lbs. (if that) was larger
>than 85% of the women we saw, and that's a _conservative_ estimate. The
>dress she purchased off the rack was a size medium. Our idea of XL size
>(men OR women) barely exists over there, even in areas used to tourism.
>
> My overseas experiences have obviously been different. We were in an
>area with a significant Chinese population, did a lot of traveling in both
>popular tourist spots and suburbs of KL where you wouldn't lay eyes on a
>tourist for miles, and throughout our entire 3-week trip, I saw less than
>half a dozen people I'd categorize as "hefty", nevermind obese. This would be
>in 2003, very recent memory.
>
> The diet generally eaten by my relatives is high carb, high sugar,
>lots of seafood and poultry, almost no red meat, little dairy, and low to
>moderate fat. Portions are small, meals are frequent. Three of the visiting
>party including myself and Erik actually _lost_ weight while we were over
>there due to a combination of several factors, which included the heat.
>
>Ariane

I agree with Ariane. I was in Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong twice
in two years. FWIW, I am 5'5" and a size 8 in clothing. *If* I could
find clothing off the rack, it was almost always an XL. I saw very
few (read: almost none) fat locals and certianly no one considered
obese that was an Asian national. I lost weight too and attribute this
to the amount of walking we did and avoidance of snacking. The
portions in all restaurants are much, much smaller than we have in the
USA.

Ginny

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 06:00:42 -0700, Ginny Sher > wrote:
>
> I agree with Ariane. I was in Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong twice
> in two years. FWIW, I am 5'5" and a size 8 in clothing. *If* I could
> find clothing off the rack, it was almost always an XL. I saw very
> few (read: almost none) fat locals and certianly no one considered
> obese that was an Asian national. I lost weight too and attribute this
> to the amount of walking we did and avoidance of snacking. The
> portions in all restaurants are much, much smaller than we have in the
> USA.

I'd love to go to those places, Ginny. We were close to Thailand on
our 2003 trip, but between visiting all the Malaysian relatives, we didn't
have time to make a side trip. Maybe next time! Fujigirl over on
alt.binaries.food posted some pictures a while back, and the pho ones were
especially tempting. It's challenging to get proper pho tai here, and that's
one of my favorites.

Yeah, portions definitely are smaller over there, particularly
street food. But they were wonderfully cheap... A small plate of noodles
with bean sprouts and seafood was around a dollar U.S. And with the weather
so hot and humid, we rarely felt like eating a heavy meal in one sitting,
anyway. Our method while traveling was to eat small meals and have snacks and
frequent drinks (usually high sugar ones, too) to refresh ourselves inbetween
times. It was more like 4-6 small meals per day, which was fine by me. ;D
The walking, sweating and filling up your stomach with much-needed liquids
rather than food did the rest, IMO. My husband lost an amazing 15 lbs. in
less than three weeks' time. Toward the end of the trip, he was having
dehydration problems despite drinking constantly, and his lunch sometimes
consisted of several glasses of pineapple juice.

And the issue with difference in size over there wasn't merely weight,
but also body frame. If I weighed 100 lbs., I'd look pretty emaciated and my
shoulders would _still_ be too broad for most off the rack clothing. (That's
one of the issues my sister had, despite her small size by American
standards.) The difference between my relatives who'd remained in Malaysia
and the ones who'd moved elsewhere was fairly obvious, too. A couple of my
aunts are around 5'3 and maybe a size six and they said they wouldn't even
bother trying to look for clothes there, either. It would've been a lesson in
humility. <g>

Ariane
--
Dysfunction: The only consistent feature of all your dissatisfying
relationships is you.
http://www.despair.com/demotivators/dysfunction.html