Chahan is a Japanese fried rice dish typically cooked in a wok. Rice is used as a primary ingredient, and a wide range of additional ingredients can be used including scrambled egg, vegetables, onion, garlic, edible mushrooms such as
shiitake,
tofu, pork, as well as
seafoods such as crab meat, roe, and shrimp. Oils such as canola oil, sesame oil and sunflower oil are used to fry the dish. The dish can be
seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper and
katsuobushi, a dried and flaked tuna product.
Shiso, an Asian culinary herb, may also be used to flavor
chahan.
Nori, a dried
edible seaweed product, can be used as a
garnish. The use of a hot wok for frying and cooking
chahan quickly can prevent the rice from sticking to the pan, and using warm rice also prevents pan sticking. The use of pre-cooked and refrigerated rice is also conducive toward enhancing the cooking process. ==Variations==