Easy Fried Rice

September 25, 2008

Update: Katie at Chaos in the Kitchen has her own fried rice recipe that may be more successful.  She even says start with cold rice, something I didn’t do!

As I’ve tried more recipes from Andersen’s How to Cook Without a Book, I’ve become more and more impressed. She presents simple formulas for good food. The beauty in the book is that you really can put these dishes together from memory after following the recipe once or twice. Last night I tried her recipe for ‘Simple Fried Rice.’

I’m going to tell you right here that I messed it up a little bit, but the end result was still good – something I would definitely make again, though with a few tweaks. My main complaint is that it lacked some flavor, so I am thinking about adding some sesame oil or ginger next time to help it out.

For this recipe you’ll need an onion, a piece of meat (4-6 oz), a vegetable (4-6 oz), a clove of garlic, two eggs, four tablespoons of soy sauce, four tablespoons of vegetable oil, four cups of cooked rice (I think the result is better if you use day old rice, at least according to one recipe), and four scallions.

Prepare your mise en place (a necessity for this recipe) by chopping your meat into bite size pieces and marinating them in a tablespoon of soy sauce, mincing your garlic and scallion, chopping your onion into slices or wedges, chopping your vegetable into bite size pieces that will cook quickly, and beating your eggs in a bowl.

When your meat has marinated for a little bit, heat a large skillet over medium-high to high heat and add one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add your onion and cook it for a couple minutes. You want it to brown but not get soggy.

Next, add your meat or vegetable and stir fry it for a minute or two – again, it should start to brown. I say meat or vegetable because it really depends on which will cook more quickly. In my case, I was using carrots and and a pork chop, and carrots seem to take forever to cook, ergo I put the carrot in first. Anyway, put in your first food after the onion, cook it for a minute or two, then add the second food, and cook it for another minute or two. Stir in your garlic and transplant the whole mixture to a new bowl.

Now, add three more tablespoons of oil to your newly empty pan and make sure it gets hot. When its ready, add your rice, breaking up the clumps, until it is heated through and stir fried nicely. I’m pretty sure I had too much rice and too little oil, so my rice didn’t really stir fry properly. Andersen even warns that you’ll end up with a rice casserole if you don’t have enough oil. Did I listen? Apparently not. Take your beaten eggs and mix them into the rice until they’re cooked.

To finish the dish, add back in your veggie/meat mixture to the skillet and stir in three tablespoons of soy sauce and the scallions. That’s it!

Tips

• You might notice that the recipe is very similar to her lo mein recipe. The main differences are the replacement of spaghetti with rice, and the removal of the lo mein flavoring sauce. I’m considering adding that sauce, or a variant of it, back to this recipe to add a little extra flavor.
• Marinating the meat really helps. The meat doesn’t absorb much flavor while cooking, so you’ll just end up with regular tasting meat if you don’t.
• As I mentioned above, make sure you use plenty of oil to stir fry the rice. I didn’t and it turned into a sort of rice casserole. Also, consider using day old rice if you can, that might help with the texture.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, cut into wedges or slices
• 4-6 oz of pork, cut into small pieces (other meat can be substituted with no change)
• 4-6 ounces carrot, cut into small pieces (other meat can be substituted with no change)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 4 cups cooked rice
• 4 scallions, minced

Recipe:

1. Marinate your meat in a tablespoon of soy sauce. Heat a large skillet over medium-high to high heat. Add the onion and stir fry for a minute or two – until it turns brown but is not soft. Add your meat or vegetable (whichever takes longer to cook) and stir fry also until brown, 1-2 minutes. Add your other meat or vegetable and stir fry again for a minute or two. Make sure the meat is cooked through, stir in your garlic, then remove the food from the skillet into a separate bowl.
2. Add three tablespoons of oil to the skillet, then stir fry the rice for a couple minutes. Make sure it is warmed through if it was leftovers from the refrigerator.
3. Add your beaten eggs to the rice and stir them in until cooked. Finally, add back the meat and vegetable mixture to the skillet and stir in the three tablespoons of soy sauce and scallions.

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