What sort of rice do you order?

[Christa]

I'm from the U.K. and, growing up there, I found that most British people tend to order egg fried rice when they go to Chinese restaurants.

 

Having lived in Chinese speaking countries, however, I found that local people tended to order plain rice.

 

Anyway, my question is really for those who are from outside the U.K. - so all you Canadians, Australians, Americans and New Zealanders out there: what type of rice do people tend to order back in your home country? Are other English speaking countries also fixated on egg fried rice?

 

Christina

[abcdefg]

In the US, as in China, I order plain steamed white rice. I ask for 米饭 or 白饭。

[ZC]

I mean it depends right? If it’s going to be my whole meal I’ll go to the Muslim place and order 兰州炒饭 (which I’m pretty sure is just beef fried rice with bell pepper) but if I have other food then white rice.

 

In the states/aus if you go to like the China Express or whatever then yeah definitely the egg fried rice is the more common choice, but if it’s a sit-down restaurant where the expectation is that you will get actual Chinese cuisine (disclaimer I am rarely in these places because money) usually  people get white rice because it’s ‘part of the experience’ or something (or they just like white rice).

[yueni]

In Singapore, if you want to eat one rice dish as a meal, then you order fried rice. If the rice is supposed to accompany other food, and the other food in question is not a rice-dish and is supposed to take "center stage", then we order plain white rice. (The assumption is that we are talking Chinese food, also does not include Hainanese Chicken Rice, which is far removed from chicken rice served in Hainan.)

[歐博思]

Another US data point: in my experience, cheaper places and places that cater more towards Americans' taste will default to fried rice, and more authentically Chinese places where you'd order multiple dishes will default to white rice.

[somethingfunny]

Rice is for poor people, when it comes to 主食 I go nothing lower than 饺子.

[Christa]

2 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Rice is for poor people, when it comes to 主食 I go nothing lower than 饺子.

 

Wow, so you eat a bowl of 饺子 with every meal? I'm impressed! 

[歐博思]

3 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

when it comes to 主食 I go nothing lower than 饺子

What's at the top of your food chain? Asking for a friend.

[Zeppa]

I am in the UK and I never order egg fried rice, only plain rice. It's true, I might make egg fried rice as a meal if I have some left over. 

[Shelley]

1 hour ago, Zeppa said:

make egg fried rice as a meal if I have some left over. 

A good point, really good egg fried rice is best made with leftover cold rice.

 

I used to order egg fried rice in my youth but as I have grown older and wiser its plain rice every time. I speak as a Canadian now living in the UK.

[Zeppa]

Yes. I must admit it is probably true that a lot of people in the UK order egg fried rice, Christa. Over the years I have often been surprised. Although I am a very greedy person, it just seems too much to me to have such a heavy form of rice with other dishes. 

[大肚男]

In the US, when the wife and I go to eat in an authentic Chinese restaurant, we only order white rice.

 

If we go to a Panda Express or a buffet, the we skip the rice and get the Chao mian.

 

But if we have Chinese food with my family, we always order chicken fried rice.

 

I also make a mean chicken fried rice whenever we get a Costco rotisserie chicken.

[Christa]

By the way, am I noticing a difference between North American and British English regarding plain rice? Do you guys call it "white rice"?

[somethingfunny]

In the UK, I'd call it "plain rice" or "boiled rice".  Chinese restaurants don't serve rice that isn't white.

[ZC]

10 minutes ago, Christa said:

 

By the way, am I noticing a difference between North American and British English regarding plain rice? Do you guys call it "white rice"?

 

 

In the US white rice is standard, possibly because brown rice is a thing that can mean (depending on where you are) either Mexican fried rice, wild rice, or ‘dirty rice’ which is a dish made with wild rice.

[Alex_Hart]

11 hours ago, Shelley said:

A good point, really good egg fried rice is best made with leftover cold rice.

 

You've entered dangerous territory with this claim! Check here for a detailed examination into which rice is really the best rice for fried rice!

 

1 hour ago, Christa said:

By the way, am I noticing a difference between North American and British English regarding plain rice? Do you guys call it "white rice"?

Definitely called white rice in the US. I've never heard someone say plain rice before, but I've heard some older people say jasmine rice. You can often order white rice, brown rice, fried rice, etc. in a Chinese restaurant.

 

59 minutes ago, somethingfunny said:

In the UK, I'd call it "plain rice" or "boiled rice".  Chinese restaurants don't serve rice that isn't white.

This baffles me. Do Chinese restaurants serve rice that isn't boiled? And isn't the assumption that it is plain?! 

[somethingfunny]

1 minute ago, Alex_Hart said:

Do Chinese restaurants serve rice that isn't boiled?

Yeah, they serve it fried as well.

[AaronUK]

I'm also in UK, I always get plain rice because the cost is usually ~1.80 and egg fried rice can be more than double. I think I also prefer the plain rice to break up any dishes that I thought were too oily or the flavor was too strong.

 

If I order a take away I will sometimes just boil my own plain rice in my rice cooker

[anonymoose]

I find that a lot of Chinese people forego the rice altogether, and just eat the dishes without any 主食.

[Alex_Hart]

13 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Yeah, they serve it fried as well.

But even fried rice is first boiled, then fried!  

 

Also, I never answered the main question. I grew up in an American Chinatown so everyone orders plain white rice. I would say that a majority of people do the same if you go to the Chinese restaurants for non-Chinese people, like in my college town. Fried rice is quite popular for takeout or for people who are eating by themselves, but it can replace the white rice if ordered in the restaurant as part of many dishes.