Gu Yixing’s egg fried rice was coated with golden egg on each grain, just like what he called "Golden Light Fried Rice."
His method of making egg fried rice was quite unique. First, he cracked the eggs into a bowl and discarded the whites, leaving only the yolks.
He would beat three egg yolks, but instead of pouring them into a hot oil pan, he mixed them into cold rice – overnight rice worked even better.
First, he thoroughly blended the rice with the egg yolk mixture, enveloping each grain in it, the whole bowl of rice transforming from innocent white to orange-yellow.
Then, he added two whole eggs to the original three egg whites, squeezed in a drop of lemon juice to remove any fishy smell, added the right amount of salt, and beat it thoroughly.
With a hot pan and hot oil, he poured the rice coated with egg yolk mixture into the pan, sizzling as it hit the oil, and rapidly stir-fried it to ensure each grain was evenly heated. He continued on high heat until the egg yolk on each grain of rice turned golden.
Once the egg yolk on the rice was fully cooked, the grains would naturally not stick together, each one wrapped in a golden cloak, loose and distinct.
At this point, he took the rice out of the pan, added oil – cold oil in a hot pan or hot oil both worked – as there weren’t very strict requirements for this step. He poured the beaten egg mixture into the pan and stir-fried quickly, using a technique similar to making scrambled eggs but even faster, to ensure the eggs remained silky smooth, which depended on the speed of the stirring.
If the action was too slow, uneven heating would cause the outside to cook while the inside overcooked, resulting in a poor texture.
If the action was fast, it allowed for even heating. The outside would cook while the inside retained a slightly runny consistency. At this point, he quickly poured the previously fried "Golden Light Rice" back into the pan, combined it with the scrambled eggs, and stir-fried rapidly, shifting from high to medium heat for thirty seconds before swiftly removing it from the pan to retain the "breath of the wok."
The "breath of the wok" is the soul of a dish.
Comparing food to a beauty, a beauty without the "breath of the wok" is like a wooden beauty lacking an interesting soul, whereas one with the "breath of the wok" is a beauty possessing an engaging soul.
Pretty appearances are common, but interesting souls are one in a million.
Just like egg fried rice: nearly everyone can make it, but ten thousand people will create ten thousand different textures and flavors. Those that can truly be called "extraordinary" are one in a million.
A chef might cook many dishes, but if you ask which one is the hardest, most would answer: "Egg fried rice."
Egg fried rice isn’t hard to make – many people can do that.
It’s hard to make it taste good.
Because it’s such a common food, it’s very hard to make it impressively delicious.
Gu Yixing was very confident about the egg fried rice he made. He lifted the lid, and the golden grains seemed to be hidden amongst clouds, shining even more radiantly.
A dish, besides being delicious, must possess color, aroma, and flavor all at once.
The aroma was there, otherwise Little Taotie wouldn’t have guessed it right away from the smell.
Now the color also deserved the accolade "extraordinary."
Ingeniously using color, three egg whites along with two whole eggs, when beaten and fried, gave a hue like mixing white paint with golden yellow, a pale yellow leaning towards white.
Color is all about contrast.
Against the backdrop of the pale yellow scrambled egg, the golden yellow pure yolk coating the rice shone even brighter.
The gradient effect of the colors, the impact of the gold, everything harmonized beautifully, pleasing to the eye.
Little Taotie couldn’t wait and scooped up a large spoonful into his mouth. The distinct grains didn’t stick to the teeth but instead had a springy texture, very chewy, very fragrant!