Khao Pad (Thai Fried Rice)

Thai fried rice -- jasmine rice stir-fried with egg, fish sauce, soy sauce, and a protein of choice over very high wok heat -- is the most versatile dish in the Thai kitchen, available at street stalls from 6am to midnight as a complete meal in 5 minutes. The essential technique is the wok hei (breath of the wok) -- the charred, slightly smoky flavor from flash-frying over a commercial gas flame at 1,000 degrees -- which is impossible to replicate on home stoves and is the reason restaurant-cooked fried rice tastes categorically different.