Eshin Direct

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Expat Fried Rice. Also known in the West as Special Fried Rice. Known in Singapore as Yang Chow Fried Rice and known in Hong Kong as Yeung Chow Fried Rice. It is called Expat Fried Rice because most Chinese in Asia will look at the dish with some bewilderment, or draw from a great pool of patience deep within them as the ang mo or gweilo orders his favourite Chinese dish from back home. It doesn’t appear to be a native Chinese dish (but I could be wrong).

It does have a special place in my heart though. When I was younger and holidaying in Singapore at the Shangri-La, my mate and I (that’s you Brim) couldn’t get enough of this Chinese Fried Rice from the old coffee shop.

Its noble origins are a little uncertain but here is one theory.

I suspect that it came from immigrant Chinese in the West who had to put up with ignorant Westerners wandering into their restaurants late at night, demanding food. One enterprising young soul, had nothing to serve the poor buggers save the consolidated remains of other dinner, of which the bulk was leftover rice. Thinking quick (which you inevitably have to do when you are immigrant Chinese faced with hungry Westerners), he poured the remains into his wok and quickly heated it up with copious amounts of oil to mask any unsavoury tastes. Serving this to the Westerners, to his surprise, he found they actually liked the dish and when asked what it was called, he replied with a smirk “Oh, it’s a special fried rice. Authentic Chinese”. He was even more surprised that they paid him for the dish and they kept coming back with their mates for more. And thus, special fried rice was born.

Of course, when Westerners traveled to Asia, they expected to see their favorite fried rice on the menu, and again the poor Chinese were a little bewildered by this request for special fried rice. One clever soul decided to call his cousin in London and ask them why these strange foreigners kept asking for special friend rice. His cousin replied, “Aiyo, just put all your leftovers in your wok and heat it up with copious amounts of oil”. Not satisfied to call it special fried rice, he decide it must have an appropriate Chinese name and decided to call it Yeung Chow fried rice.

Tags: chinese, expat, food, rice