Chicken Fried Rice

1. Use rice cooked at least a day ahead, or cook it fresh and spread it on a baking sheet to dry for 1 to 2 hours. A wok or non-stick pan stops the rice catching.
2. Cut the chicken into ¼ to ½-inch cubes, sprinkle over ½ tsp salt, mix, and leave for about 10 minutes.
3. Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat, swirl in a tablespoon of oil, pour in the whisked eggs, and scramble quickly into small pieces, then tip onto a plate.
4. Add another tablespoon of oil, then the chicken, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring now and then. Move it to the plate and wipe the wok clean.
5. Swirl in a third tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, add the onion, and cook for 1 minute until it softens. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the carrot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Season with ½ tsp salt, add the peas, and stir together.
6. Tip the rice in on top of the vegetables and mix through, breaking up any clumps with the back of the spatula. Add the white and pale green parts of the scallions (keep the dark tops back) along with the five-spice, and stir, adding a splash more oil if it sticks.
7. Drizzle over the soy sauce and sesame oil and stir through, then fold back in the chicken, egg and the reserved dark scallion tops. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Taste, add more soy if it needs it, and serve straight away.

Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen

• Cold rice from the day before is the trick here. Fresh rice holds too much moisture and clumps into a sticky mess.
• Get your wok properly hot and keep the rice moving. That brief contact with a screaming-hot surface is where the smoky edge comes from.
• Scramble the egg and cook the chicken before the rice goes in, then fold them back at the very end so neither overcooks.
• Prep and measure everything first. Once the wok is hot the dish is done in two or three minutes, with no time to chop.