I’ve tried making fried rice several times. Unfortunately, it almost always turned into mush. Of course, I could have done long ago what I do on a daily basis, and look at online recipes. But, for some reason, I keep telling myself that fried rice should be simple and there is no reason for me to have to follow a recipe. I know, that’s just silly. Well, despite the fact that I refuse to look for a recipe for that dish, I did come across an article recently that taught me an important lesson: use cold rice. Every time I’ve made it before, I’d use the rice right out of the rice cooker. So this time, I made sure to refrigerate it overnight before making the recipe.
So with all the confidence in the world, I searched the fridge for a few “fried-rice friendly” ingredients. This is what I came up with (once again, I apologize for the lack of specific quantities)…
Jo’s Best Fried Rice Yet!
Ingredients:
– Olive oil (I probably used 1/4 cup or so, throughout the cooking)
– 2 cups of white rice, cooked and refrigerated overnight
– 1 cup of broccoli, chopped
– 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
– 1 ear of corn (kernels only, removed from cob)
– 1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped
– 1 egg
– Kikkoman soy sauce (1/2 cup or so?)
– VH Pad Thai Sauce (2-3 tablespoons?)
– Chinese Five-Spice (1 teaspoon or so)
What’s Next?
1. In a wok, on medium-high heat, put the onions and let them “sweat”.
2. Throughout the cooking, add a little bit of olive oil to avoid having the ingredients sticking to each other too much.
3. Add the corn and broccoli. Stir constantly.
4. Add the chicken and the rice. Keep stirring.
5. Break in the egg and stir it through the other ingredients until the egg appears to be completely cooked (no slimy parts)
6. Add the soy sauce, Pad Thai sauce and five-spice, to taste.
Now, I know that most people (if you don’t live in Canada) won’t have access to the VH sauce. I’ll be on the hunt for something similar in the US but it was brought over by my parents on their last visit and it has really changed my world. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and all around perfect. VH sauces would seriously be a good enough reason for me to move back to Canada, all in itself.
I knew this was a success when my husband said, without hesitating, that it was one of his new favorite dish of mine. As he rarely get excited about food (compared to me, especially), I took it as a huge compliment. 🙂
The Hungry Quebbie 