Uncle Roger’s egg fried rice: it’s a winner

The pandemic year has been a rich one for comic food videos. YouTube’s Uncle Roger cooking egg fried rice is one of the best.

Funny and educational: Uncle Roger in action. Picture: YouTube

My favourite restaurant has terrible decor. And service. I don’t think management puts a lot into staff training. We have watched, bemused, as a waiter licked her fingers while clearing plates. Anyway.

Making a booking is almost impossible before 5.30pm, when they start answering the phone, but getting a table never seems to be a problem. And only some of the food is what you’d want to eat. But it does a serviceable fried rice, and for the life of me, that’s something I’ll go out for. That and the five-spice battered squid and a magnificent “wine program” they call BYO.

If I’m honest, my local Chinese isn’t my favourite restaurant, but it’s definitely the only restaurant I’ve been to more than eight times in the past two years, and that surely counts for something. And fried rice is non-negotiable. For a long time I was no good at cooking it. That’s OK, though; there are certain things – sushi, pho, proper confit duck – that you just go out for. They do it better, or can get the ingredients, or have the necessary skills/patience.

I love fried rice. I love it in its basic form with just egg and a few other bits and bobs; with char siu pork; with shiitake; with roast duck; Thai-style with pork sausage and cucumber; or with salted fish, a real Cantonese delicacy.

Now, the best fried rice in Australia is at Flower Drum in Melbourne, where they make it with delicate blue swimmer crab meat, although Lee Ho Fook’s just round the corner with scallop and crab is also fairly sensational. I need to work my way up to that from a very low base, because past attempts to cook it have been, well, abysmal. But I’ve turned the corner. And it took a comedian to get the navigation sorted.

The pandemic year has been a rich one for comic food videos, and while Nat’s What I Reckon has had his share of (deserved) praise, for me YouTube sensation Uncle Roger has the edge. And Uncle Roger has an obsession with egg fried rice. Uncle Roger make John chuckle.

In case you’re not familiar with Uncle Roger, he’s the alter ego of comedian Nigel Ng, a London-based Chinese Malaysian whose schtick is satirising fellow Asians with his cooking and commentary videos. It’s funny stuff. He also hosts Rice To Meet You, a comedy podcast about Asian culture. His dissection of Jamie Oliver’s attempts at cooking Thai curries, and Gordon Ramsay doing nasi goreng or Nigella Lawson making ramen, are gold – but often the weft of satire is woven with a warp of education. Which is how I got back on the fried rice wagon.

The secret: cook your rice in chicken stock – instead of water – with garlic and ginger the day before, then refrigerate. That’s it. Oh, and use shallot, not onion (“Only poor people use onion,” Uncle Roger says), and peanut oil, not olive oil (“This is not Jamie Oliver cooking show”). Beneath the veneer, I suspect, our Nigel knows quite a bit about food, and he’s helped me with this particular dish. Uncle Roger’s recipe rocks. But I’ll still go out for fried rice.

To make Uncle Roger’s Egg Fried Rice, you’ll need: Two cups of jasmine rice, cooked with chicken stock, bruised ginger and garlic, refrigerated overnight. Also peanut oil; a shallot, five garlic cloves and a long red chilli, all finely chopped; one whole egg, plus one yolk; sesame oil, soy sauce, ground white pepper and MSG (optional); and two spring onions, finely sliced.

Heat your wok on high and add peanut oil to coat, discarding excess. Add shallot and garlic to the pan and fry briefly until soft but not coloured. Whisk the eggs and add to wok, moving around with a spatula for about 30 seconds. Add your cold cooked rice and a dash more oil if dry. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add about a teaspoon of sesame oil and a dessertspoon of soy sauce. Cook for another minute then add white pepper and a dash – about half a teaspoon – of MSG. Or not; your call. Finally, add your chopped chilli and spring onion, agitate a bit more and serve in a hot bowl.

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