Yangzhou fried rice

Alternative names	Yeung Chow fried rice Yang Chow fried rice House fried rice
Course	Entree
Place of origin	Yangzhou, China
Created by	Yi Bingshou (Qing dynasty)
Main ingredients	cooked rice; cha shao/char siu pork; cooked shrimp; scallions, chopped; eggs yolks; peas; carrots
Variations	Fried rice
Media: Yangzhou fried rice

Yangzhou fried rice (Traditional Chinese: 揚州炒飯; Simplified Chinese : 扬州炒饭; Pinyin : Yángzhōu chǎofàn, Jyutping: Joeng4zau1 Caau2faan6) is a popular Chinese-style wok fried rice dish in many Chinese restaurants throughout the world. It is commonly sold in the UK as special fried rice, in the US as house special fried rice, and in Vietnam as cơm chiên dương châu.

Ingredients

The difference between Yangzhou fried rice and ordinary fried rice is that Yangzhou style invariably includes a combination of proteins. Rather than using a single protein like shrimp or pork or chicken as the dominant ingredient in fried rice, Yangzhou uses a variety. Most commonly used is a combination of pork, shrimp and frequently chicken or duck. Ordinarily, some of its staple items include:^[1]

• Cooked rice (preferably day-old, because freshly cooked rice is too sticky due to higher water content)
• Chinese-style roast pork or lap cheong
• Some sort of seafood, generally shrimp
• Roasted or boiled chicken, duck or other protein
• Scallions (spring onions or green onions), chopped, including green end
• Fresh vegetables such as kai-lan, carrots, peas, corn, and bamboo shoots
• Egg

The peas may be a replacement or an addition for the green onions. Some recipes include Shaoxing wine. Some western Chinese restaurants also use soy sauce to flavor the rice, and add meat such as chicken.

History

Despite the name, this dish did not originate in Yangzhou, Jiangsu (Yangchow; Yeung Chow^[2]). The recipe was invented by Qing China's Yi Bingshou (1754–1815) and the dish was named Yeung Chow fried rice since Yi was once the regional magistrate of Yangzhou^[3] Still, there have been attempts by people in Yangzhou to patent the dish^{[citation needed]}.

Failed world record attempt

In October 2015, as part of the 2,500th anniversary of the town of Yangzhou, an attempt was made in Yangzhou at beating the previous world record for fried rice set in 2014 by the Turkey culinary federation. The attempt, made by the World Association of Chinese Cuisine resulted in 4,192 kilograms (9,242 lb) of Yangzhou fried rice being produced by a team of 300 cooks.^[4] The organizers initially planned to send the end product to five companies for consumption by their staff. However, about 150 kilograms (330 lb) of it ended up as pig swill, as it had been cooked for four hours and was felt unsuitable for human consumption. As per the organizers' intents, the rest was sent to local canteens.^[5] However, due to a part of it being sent to feed animals, the world record attempt was disqualified, as a Guinness World Records spokesman said that it had become obvious that the dish was not fit for human consumption.^[6]