Ham & Egg Fried Rice

(Serves 1)

Ingredients:

1 cup of cold cooked jasmine rice

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped ham

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1/2 cup cubed carrots 

3 cloves garlic, minced

a dash of chinese cooking wine

pepper & salt, to taste

a dash of sesame oil
1 tbsp cooking oil

• Heat oil and saute garlic until aromatic.  Crack eggs into the wok and lightly scramble.  Remove from wok.  Set aside.
• Add extra oil to the wok and heat over high heat. Add in ham and fry until lightly browned, then add in carrots. Stir-fry for a minute or two.  Put in the rice and toss well.  Add in wine, followed by green peas and scrambled eggs.  Season with salt and pepper.  
• Keep on frying the rice over high heat until you see the grains of rice 'popping' or 'jumping' on the side of the wok.  Drizzle sesame oil over the rice and toss to combine.  
• Serve hot. 

The key to perfect fried rice:

• using day-old cold rice (rice that has been refrigerated for at least a day as it helps draw moisture out of the rice). 
• all vegetables and meat (if you are using) should be pre-cooked separately and then combined together in the final stage of cooking.
• do not overcrowd the wok to ensure even cooking. If you are cooking a large quantity of rice, do it in batches.
• using high heat in order to properly fry each grain of rice (when the grains of rice starts to 'pop' or 'jump' on the side of the wok, you know it is ready).