How to Make Yangzhou Fried Rice (Cơm Chiên Dương Châu)
Easy Yangzhou fried rice recipe! This is Chinese-style fried rice. You can find this dish at almost every family-style Chinese or Vietnamese restaurant. In Vietnamese the name is cơm chiên dương châu. It consists of a combination of meats which is what makes it so popular and so delicious!
What is Yangzhou Fried Rice?
Yangzhou fried rice is a Chinese-style fried rice. It got its name from it city of origin, Yangzhou in the Jiangsu Province, which is in eastern China. Yangzhou fried rice is also commonly called house special fried rice. In Vietnamese it is cơm chiên dương châu. Because of Vietnam’s history, there are a lot of shared similarities in culture and food with China.
You can find this dish at almost every family-style Chinese or Vietnamese restaurant. It is a combination fried rice. Ingredients typically include chicken, shrimp, Chinese barbecue pork or sausage, eggs, carrots, peas, corn, and green onions.
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Ingredients
Pork
Chinese barbecue pork (char siu) or sausage are best for this recipe. Lap cheong is the Cantonese word for it and lạp xưởng is the Vietnamese word for it. The sausages are a bright red color. It is sweet and savory with a firmer texture than European or Western sausages. I prefer to use Chinese sausage when making Yangzhou fried rice at home. They usually come ready to eat (just needs to brown or be heat up) and easy to find at the local asian grocery store. The perfect ingredient to make this a quick meal!
Chicken
This is a dish that I usually throw my leftover rotisserie chicken in or whatever leftover chicken I have. I typically don’t love leftover chicken but this dish is my favorite way to repurpose it. However, you can of course cook fresh chicken too. I suggest cooking the chicken first and setting aside prior to adding in all the other ingredients like rice, veggies, etc.
Shrimp
For this recipe, I like to use small shrimp so it is more bite size. I love a shortcut so I used frozen cooked shrimp. This way I don’t have to clean, peel, and devein which can be tedious.
Rice
My favorite type of rice to use for this fried rice recipe is Jasmine rice, which is a type of long grain rice. It is a little stickier and more fragrant than American long grain rice.
Vegetables
Typical vegetables seen in this dish are carrots, peas, corn, and green onions. For an even quicker meal, you can use a bag of mixed frozen veggies. I used frozen peas and corn here because I am trying to use up a giant bag of carrots. I put in fresh carrots here but frozen works as well! Lastly, fresh green onions to finish it off is always my favorite part! I add it in last after the heat is off so it doesn’t wilt and lose its flavor too much.
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Tips for Making Fried Rice
Rice
I think the most important thing to making good fried rice is to use cold leftover rice. Leftover cold rice tends to be drier. This is perfect because you are essentially cooking the rice again and using fresh hot rice will cause it to turn to mush. Dry, cold rice soaks up the flavors well and softens as you cook without becoming overheated, overcooked, and mushy.
Eggs
As you may have gathered from this post, I am all about saving time when cooking at home. Another way to speed things up and reduce the cleanup is by cooking the eggs directly in the pan with the rice. I do this by making a hole in the middle and cracking my eggs in there. I mix the eggs directly in the pan and let it cook like an omelet. Once it is done, I roughly break it apart and mix to incorporate it with the rest of the rice. May not be the “perfect” eggs but to me it is worth the tradeoff of not having to do extra dishes.
Sesame Oil
I love adding just a little bit of sesame oil to most Asian dishes I cook. To me, it is the perfect nutty and toasty finish. The flavor is strong so a little bit goes a long way. It is best to add it once the heat is off to get maximum flavor.
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Ingredients
- 2 Chinese sausages, sliced
- ⅓ onion, chopped
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 cups cold leftover white rice
- 3 tbs butter
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs oyster sauce
- 1 cooked chicken breast (or leftover rotisserie chicken)
- 1 cup small frozen cooked shrimp
- ¼ cup frozen corn
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- 4 eggs
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Shred or chop chicken into bite sized pieces and set aside.
- In a large pan on medium heat, brown Chinese sausage.
- Add onion, garlic, and carrots. Cook until onions are soft and translucent.
- Add rice, butter, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and mix. Taste test and adjust to your preference.
- Add in chicken, shrimp, frozen veggies, and mix.
- Push rice to the sides and make a hole in the middle of the pan. Crack eggs and mix it in the hole. Flip eggs to cook both sides like an omelet. Roughly chop into bite sized pieces and mix it into the rice.
- Turn off the heat. Add green onions, sesame oil, mix it all up, and enjoy!
