Kai Yun Nian Fan -开运年饭

When finding a new recipe which tastes delicious and is loved by everyone, the only thing to do is make it again! This is exactly what we did with the New Years Fried Rice my mother made for Chinese New Year.

Remember this? Yum!

My mother saw this recipe on Chinese television -a cooking show with Auntie Fang. As I said before, it's really hard to quantify, exactly, how much of everything is used in a Chinese recipe. Not even Auntie Fang provided exact measurements! No measuring cups or spoons are used, only words like "a splash of this", "a little bit of this" or "some of this" so it's really up to the cook how much of each ingredient they want to add depending on their tastes. I like to add more meat in mine =)

2:1 Ratio of normal rice : glutinous rice

The most important part of this recipe is the rice. The presenters of Auntie Fang's cooking show were very quick to stress that this is unlike regular fried rice due to the addition of glutinous rice. It "sticks" all the good stuff together. You can generally make up the other ingredients to go into the rice depending on what you like to eat.

Ham, fried egg, black mushrooms, goji berries, longan flesh, green beans

Just remember to cut everything into bite sized pieces so it's easy to pick up with chopsticks -no knives or forks where we come from! 

Putting everything in the pan

Step 8: Put everything into a pretty bowl

Step 8: Pat it down

Step 9: Place a plate over the top and.. 

..Flip it over

I got my mother to do the last bit because I wasn't strong enough. I could eat it all by myself though =)

Kai Yun Nian Fan

Ingredeients: according to the original recipe -we added a few things here and there to our tastes

Cooked Rice -2:1 mix of long grain rice : glutinous rice

Longan Flesh (soak if using dried)

Chinese Sausage

Spring Onions

Ham or Luncheon

2 Eggs, beaten

Peas (mum likes to use green beans)

Splash of Chinese rice wine

Salt and white pepper for seasoning

Oil for cooking

Some of these ingredients may be foreign to you so here are some links to Longan, Goji Berry and Chinese Sausage. You can find Goji Berries at most supermarkets (I've only ever seen dried so soak them), Longan at certain fresh fruit stores (in the summer) and all of the above can be found at your local Chinese grocery. Just ask someone and they'll definitely point you in the right direction!

Method:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan and add the Longan flesh, Chinese sausage and peas for about 2 minutes

2. Add half of the spring onions and mix

3. Create a well in the middle of the pan and add the beaten egg and a splash of Chinese rice wine

4. Add Ham/Luncheon

5. Break up the cooked rice and add to the pan. Turn down the head and stir everything so that the ingredients are spread evenly throughout the rice

6. Add some salt and white pepper to taste

7. Once the ingredients are spread evenly, turn up the heat and continue to toss the rice around the pan

8. Spoon the rice into a nice looking bowl and pat it down so that it molds to the shape of your bowl

9. Place a plate over the top and flip over

10. Sprinkle the rest of your spring onions to garnish

11. Feed some hungry people!

Yum!

So basically cook the rice, fry the egg and then add whatever you like to eat. Lots of meat, mushrooms, longan e.t.c. The longan flesh adds a sweetness which adds a whole new layer of flavour to the saltiness of the Chinese sausage and ham. It's so easy to make and looks and smells like a pro made it.

Remember, my Mandarin speaking bunnies, you can find the original recipe here.