Fried Rice is Always Welcome

Ed and I have eaten a lot of fried rice recently. In Hong Kong. In Vietnam. In Cambodia. In the Philippines.

You could say fried rice is a staple in our lives. Just this simple dish: hot rice, vaguely crispy from the fry, lightly salty (but never with added soy sauce) and with a bit of egg, onion (usually in the form of scallion) and cooked vegetables. And that's how we had it (with a change of seasonings, depending on where we were) throughout Southeast Asia.

And that's how we have it at home (only from now on I will add more of the flavorings we recently sampled -- like sliced chili pepper or fresh coriander or star anise).

Because no matter what else I make for dinner, Ed will always welcome fried rice as a side dish.

He will also welcome fried rice as the main dish.

That makes it very easy for me, especially on days when I don't feel like fussing over dinner.

It does take some thinking ahead, because it's best to make fried rice using cold, cooked rice.

After that it's simple. You stirfry the rice and add all sorts of other ingredients from cooked carrots or mushrooms or any other veggie, to frozen peas to canned water chestnuts to fresh scallions to leftover chicken or veal to scrambled eggs -- whatever you have! And season it the way you like.

Like the recipe below, which was a filling, satisfying, delicious one-pot dinner.

Another bonus -- I added some of the Carrington Sriracha flavored coconut oil that I mentioned when I posted about Sriracha-Parmesan Popcorn. I got the oil, among other things at Crafted Kosher, a new website that has an enormous assortment of interesting products. The coconut oil is coming in handy for many of my recipes (stay tuned). Just a small amount makes a huge flavor difference, as it did with this fried rice.

Fried Rice with Egg and Peas

• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha flavored coconut oil
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 3 cups cooked cold rice
• 3/4 cup thawed frozen peas
• 1 cup diced leftover turkey, chicken or veal, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Heat 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil in a wok or stirfry pan over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring once or twice until they are set on the bottom. Turn the eggs over and cook briefly until firm. Dish out the eggs onto a chopping board, chop them and set them aside. Heat the remaining vegetable oil and the coconut oil in the pan. Add the scallions and stirfry for about one minute. Add the rice, eggs, peas, optional meat and salt and stirfry for 2-3 minutes to distribute ingredients and heat the rice.

Makes 2-4 servings, depending on whether this is a one-dish meal or part of a meal

Fried Rice with Turkey and Mushrooms

On Father’s Day my husband does not:

1) grill

2) want hot dogs or hamburgers

3) play golf (baseball, soccer, etc.)

He wants:

1) me to cook

2) Chinese food

3) to relax, sit outside, and spend a good deal of time googling all sorts of stuff on his iphone and then regale us with the miraculous things he has learned.

I haven’t figured out the menu but maybe it will be Chicken with Hoisin Sauce and Cashew Nuts or Chicken with Peanuts (his favorite). Or maybe Grilled Chicken/Ginger kebabs. He’d absolutely LOVE some Pearly Meatballs. 

Fried Rice is a definite. Any kind, even if it is “Chinese style” and not authentically Chinese like this recipe, which is more or less what I sometimes cook when I have just a little bit of meat leftover. Ed will always welcome this dish or any variation. He always mixes in a little bit of sesame seed oil. I don’t.

This recipe will serve 4-6 as a combo dish to be eaten with other food. When it’s just the two of us for dinner, we eat it all.

One cup if raw rice cooked with 1-3/4 cups water will yield 3 cups cooked rice.

Fried Rice with Turkey and Mushrooms

3 dried shiitake mushrooms

2 eggs

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 scallions, chopped

1 cup diced leftover turkey 

1/2 cup thawed frozen peas

6-8 water chestnuts, diced (or 1/2 cup diced bamboo shoots)

3 cups cooked cold rice

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

sesame seed oil, optional, to taste

Soak the mushrooms in hot water for about 30 minutes or until they are softened. Rinse them, discard the inedible stem, if any, and cut the caps into small pieces. Set the mushrooms aside. Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a wok or stirfry pan over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring once or twice until they are set on the bottom. Turn the eggs over and cook briefly until firm. Dish out the eggs onto a chopping board, chop them and set them aside. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in the pan. Add the scallions, turkey and mushrooms and stirfry for about 2 minutes. Add the peas and water chestnuts and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the rice, eggs and salt and stirfry for 1-2 minutes to distribute ingredients and heat the rice. Sprinkle with sesame seed oil if desired.

Makes 2-6 servings, depending on whether this is a one-dish meal or part of a meal

Simple Fried Rice

I could make an entire meal out of plain, steamed white rice. In fact, I have, on days when Ed is out of town and I don’t feel like cooking and I’m bored with eggs and there aren’t any leftovers to make into a sandwich or a salad.

But mostly I cook rice (not just white, but also brown, red and black varieties) as a side dish and sometimes I use it as a base ingredient for something grand, like Paella. Or even as a starting point for a dessert, like rice pudding.

Then again, I think one of the best and easiest ways I use rice is as a vegetarian dish, mixed with cooked veggies, nuts and so on. I’ll serve that dish by itself or with other vegetarian dishes, when I want to go meatless.

One of my favorites is the extremely versatile Fried Rice. I made this dish last night using leftover cooked rice and stir-fried it with fried egg, scallions and peas — on other occasions I have added all sorts of other vegetables, like broccoli or cooked carrots and even canned items such as water chestnuts.

Of course you can add leftover meat too. Whatever’s in your fridge. So simple, so quick. Dinner is done in a flash.

Simple Fried Rice

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
3 scallions, chopped
3 cups cooked cold or room temperature rice
1 cup thawed frozen peas
salt to taste

Heat 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil in a wok or stirfry pan (or a saute pan) over medium heat. Add the eggs and fry them for a minute or so or until the bottom looks set. Flip the eggs and fry briefly on the other side until cooked. Dish out to a cutting board and cut into pieces. Set aside. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in the pan. Add the scallions and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the rice and peas and cook, stirring to distribute the ingredients, for about 2 minutes or until hot. Add the egg pieces and stir to distribute them. Season to taste with salt. Serve hot. Make 2 dinner servings, 4 side dish servings