The official name of fried rice with eggs is alfalfa rice. There have been academic discussions in the literary world about the correct spelling of the word alfalfa, but in the end it seems that there is no concrete or acceptable conclusion. Someone wrote the word alfalfa as "Mushu", which I think should be correct.
Beijing people write these two words as sweet clover, but the pronunciation is a little different from alfalfa. Osmanthus fragrans is another name for Osmanthus fragrans. Osmanthus fragrans can be eaten, so can alfalfa. Now there is another kind of rice in Xinjiang called alfalfa rice, but it is not what we usually call fried rice with eggs. It's rice made of alfalfa sprouts, which the poor eat and tastes bad.
The petals of osmanthus fragrans are a bit like those of scrambled eggs, so it makes sense to call it osmanthus fragrans. I will definitely sit down and study when I have time in the future.
Fried rice with eggs is a foreign way of eating, not an invention of mainlanders. Its roots are in the western regions, which is today's Xinjiang region. Ban Gu's Hanshu has been recorded indirectly. From the name, fried rice with eggs should also be eaten by ethnic minorities in the western regions.
This kind of combined rice was introduced into the mainland from Hexi Corridor, and was finally accepted by the majority of Han people. Its main contribution is that Angelica chisels through Ban Chao and manages Zhang Qian in the Western Regions. After Ban Chao returned to the mainland in his later years, he often ate alfalfa rice. Zhang Qian is also famous among courtiers for eating this kind of Hu Fan. It is said that Zhang Qian's wives and concubines are all masters at cooking alfalfa rice, and Zhang Qian has also been rewarded to let whoever cooks alfalfa rice sleep.
There are generally two ways for fried rice with eggs to be introduced into the mainland. One route is from Hexi Corridor to the inland, then from the north to the grassland, from nomadic Mongols to Manchus in the northeast, and then from Manchu to Han nationality. So the standard Manchu banquet includes fried rice with eggs. This way of fried rice with eggs has been changed. Eggs can be eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs or other bird eggs. Rice can be rice, sorghum rice and corn rice. Small grain rice is not good because it is hard and tastes bad with eggs. Glutinous rice is even worse.
The fried rice with eggs, which took the northeast route, was later loved by the Manchu emperor, so it was recorded in the chef's cookbook. Today, we can still find written evidence in Beijing Palace Museum and Shenyang Palace Museum. When Li, the last imperial concubine, worked in the library, she brought fried rice with eggs for lunch. She gave me a taste, too. It was really delicious. She told me that Emperor Puyi loved fried rice with eggs very much, and her practice was that of a chef. She taught me to cook fried rice with eggs herself. It can be said that I am now the only direct biography of the royal fried rice with eggs, which is absolutely authentic.
The other route goes south through Hexi Corridor, stops in Nanjing, and is finally developed in Yangzhou through the transformation of local people. Therefore, Yangzhou people call their fried rice with eggs Yangzhou fried rice. I heard that it has now become the signature diet of Yangzhou. I once ate Yangzhou fried rice specially in Yangzhou, but I didn't feel very ideal, lacking the unique charm and historical sense of egg fried rice.