Ying Yang Rice 鴛鴦炒飯

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Ying Yang Rice is a popular lunch food at Hong Kong cafes because the two contrasting flavors complement each other so well. You can get the best of both worlds! The white sauce is very mild with a sweet seafood flavor from the shrimp and it has a soft texture due to the egg whites. The tomato sauce is sweet and sour with a nice fragrance from the marinated chicken. There are 3 different steps to make the Ying Yang Rice: egg fried rice, white sauce, and tomato sauce. Takes a little bit of patience but its so worth!

Its important to prep all the vegetables and marinades prior to cooking to ensure that the rice and sauces is hot when served. 鴛鴦炒飯

HISTORY:

YING YANG RICE SERVED AT HONG KONG CAFÉS

Ying Yang rice comes from a symbol of ‘love birds’ in Chinese culture. The name of the rice comes from how males and female birds look different (different color feathers and size). The opposite appearance of the pair of birds also resembles the two different sauces on the rice. Hence the term ‘Ying Yang’ for opposite energy, yet both complement each other.

Nowadays, Ying Yang rice is served at many Hong Kong cafes as a lunch item. Some wedding banquets also serve the dish to symbolize love.

Other Hong Kong Favorite Dishes:

• Hong Kong style macaroni soup – super easy and staple soup for lots of Canto people. The spam makes the soup very homey.
• Pork chop baked rice – my favorite hong kong cafe dish is this juicy pork chop

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED FOR YOUR YING YANG RICE:

chicken marinade:

• 1 pound chicken breast, sliced in long pieces
• 1 tablespoon ginger minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

egg fried rice:

• 3 cups of cooked white rice (day old rice works best)
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon sugar

red tomato sauce:

• 2 large tomatoes, cut into quarters
• ¼ white onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbs oil
• 2 tbs ketchup
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• cornstarch slurry (2 tablespoon cornstarch + ¼ cup water) – OPTIONAL use this if you like a thicker sauce
• cooked chicken

white shrimp sauce:

• ¼ white onion, diced
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup unsalted chicken broth
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup peas
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 5-6 shrimp peeled and de-veined
• cornstarch slurry (2 tablespoon cornstarch + ¼ cup water)

STEPS TO MAKE THE YING YANG RICE:

Prepare Ingredients and set aside before cooking:

1. Chicken Marinade: Slice chicken breast in thin strips. Place chicken in a bowl and marinade with the following ingredients: 1 tablespoon ginger minced, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon, 1 tablespoon corn starch, ¼ cup water, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix well and set aside.
2. Separate your egg whites from your egg yolks. Egg yolks are for the fried rice and egg whites are for the white shrimp sauce.
3. (FOR BOTH SAUCES) Make corn starch slurry by mixing 4 tbs corn starch with ½ cup of water. Give it a stir before adding to the sauces. Use half of the cornstarch slurry for the white sauce and use half of slurry for the red sauce.
4. Cut tomatoes into quarters. Dice ¼ white onion and mince 3 cloves of garlic.

Egg Fried Rice

1. Heat pan on medium-high heat. Once the pan is very hot, add egg yolks in the pan. Once scrambled for 30 seconds, add the cooked white rice. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon sugar. Stir for 2-3 minutes and set the fried rice aside.

White Shrimp Sauce:

1. In a pan on medium heat, add 1 cup chicken broth and ½ cup of water and chopped onions. Once the water is boiling, add peas, shrimp and ½ teaspoon salt.
2. Since the shrimp cooks so quickly, take out shrimp when it turns orange (1 minute). We will put them back in after the egg whites (step 4).
3. Slowly pour half of your cornstarch slurry in the soup while mixing with the spoon. Continue stirring and boil for a minute and you will see that the sauce has thickened.
4. Next, pour your egg whites in the soup while continuously mixing with the spoon. Finally, add the shrimp back in and set your white sauce aside.

Chicken Tomato Sauce:

1. Place pan on medium heat and add 1 tbs oil. Add sliced chicken and saute for 2 minutes and take out the chicken.
2. Once you take out the chicken, add 1 tbs oil to the pan (on medium heat). Then, add diced onion and minced garlic. Saute for one minute.
3. Then, add diced tomatoes, 2 tbs ketchup, ½ cup water, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon. Mix well and cover for 2-3 minutes until tomatoes are soft. Add sliced chicken back in and cook for one minute. Add ½ teaspoon sesame oil at the end and set aside in another bowl.

Assembly:

1. Fold foil in half and fold it again in half. Now the foil is more stiff, you can mend it to have the ‘S’ shape.
2. Add fried rice to the plate. Place the ‘S’ foil in the middle. Add the white sauce on the left and red sauce on the right. Serve immediately and enjoy! Note: if your sauces or rice is not warm enough, you can place in an oven or microwave for a few minutes to heat it back up. This is how they do it at hong kong cafes ◡̈

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