Western fried rice

With Lady Torrontés Bodega Norton, 2021

"Matching this wine with caramelised ketchup fried rice is like having grilled pineapple with barbeque in a warm summer day."

When I was small, "western fried rice" (西炒飯) was a popular dish in dim sum restaurant. It is basically shrimp fried rice with katchup. If done right, the ketchup is caramelised and it releases delicious sweet and almost barbeque aroma.

Western Fried Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 decilitres of rice, cooked per instructions and cold down, preferably left overnight in the fridge

• 8 fresh prawns, pad dry and season with salt and pepper

• 1 tin of luncheon pork, cut into small cubes

• 1 decilitre of mixed vegetables - peas, sweet corn and chopped carrot. You can use frozen ones

• 2 - 3 dried shitake mushrooms, soak until soft, thinly sliced

• 1 bunch of spring onion; chopped – separate the green and white parts

• 3 gloves of garlics, chopped

• 1 large egg or 2 small eggs, beaten

• 3 - 4 tablespoons of ketchup

• 1 teaspoon of sugar

• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon of Worchester sauce

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Heat up the wok and add one tablespoon of olive oil until hot; use a wooden chopstick to test the temperature. If bubbles form around the tip of the chopstick, it means it is hot enough

2. Add the chopped garlics and the white part of the chopped spring onions, keep stir frying to avoid burning

3. Add the luncheon pork and fry until it releases its oil; add the prawns and fry until golden

4. Add the shitake mushrooms and fry until it releases the fragrance; add the mixed vegetables and finally the rice; keep frying until even (all ingredients are covered by a bit of oil). Make a whole in the middle of the ingredients so that it looks like a volcano

5. Add the beaten eggs to the whole, add a bit of oil around the rice volcano if the wok looks dry. Wait until the egg sets for a just a little bit and then push in the ingredients into the eggs

6. Keep frying in circular motion

7. Add ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, Worchester sauce, salt and pepper and fry until even

8. Switch off the heat and add the green part of the spring onions. You can either mix them in or leave it on the top for garnish.

Tips:

• You can use any ingredients for this fried rice as long as there are a good mix of vegetables and meat; and all ingredients are cut into equal size, preferably small cubes

• When frying fragile ingredients such as luncheon pork cubes, fry by pushing the ingredients using the back of the spatula; don’t use the normal circular frying motion

Wine pairing

I matched this fried rice with a Torrontes from Argentina based on the matching approach. This wine is very aromatic with floral and tropical fruit flavour characteristics. It also has a distinctive pineapple taste. It has medium acidity so it is quite a smooth wine to drink. The fried rice also has sweet and sour flavour profile and it is not heavy or oily. With similar flavour and texture profile, the wine and fried rice create a harmony of summery sweetness in your palate.

Matching this wine with caramelised ketchup fried rice is like having grilled pineapple with barbeque in a warm summer day.