Fried Rice

I love a good fried rice, and I've tried a number of times (unsuccessfully I might add) to make it at home. Not sure why - lack of wok? Not hot & fast enough? Not sure. BUT the following recipe works perfectly! I have no idea where I adapted it from. As we were unpacking I found a sheet of paper with this recipe on it, handwritten by keith. I thought perhaps it was something he'd made before so I asked him to make it last night for dinner. We bought all of the ingredients, and then he read the recipe and said "um...you're going to have to help me with this." And then he reminded me that he likely wrote this recipe down for me once when I was making it. Lo and behold, I can make fried rice!

Past recipes I've tried have always had me quick frying the scrambled eggs in soy sauce, or tossing them into the dish at the end which makes everything soggy and weird. This one has you do the eggs separately, which I love! You get little bits of almost-omelet throughout, and the egg in a good fried rice is one of my favorite textures! keith's favorite part is the frozen peas - they cook just long enough to warm through and they add a fantastic freshness and burst of flavor & color (isn't it amazing how frozen peas always do that?).

Here's the recipe exactly as I made it last night. You could use shiitake mushrooms (dehydrated), or you could use any kind of fresh mushroom - just make sure they get a longer cook time in the pan. And the recipe literally says "1 cup cooked meat in 1/2 inch cubes" so use your imagination. And I used MUCH more than 1 cup - I had 1 pound of chopped shrimp, and 2 chicken breasts that I cooked separately and set aside. And just a side note, if you don't have any Sriracha hot chili sauce in your house, get some. :) And for a quick & hot recipe like this, make sure you have all of your ingredients prepared and nearby before getting started!

Fried Rice
8 - 10 dried morel mushrooms
3 Tbl. peanut oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
6 green onions, thinly sliced (all white & green)
1 large carrot, shredded
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 big pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ginger, minced
2 Tbl. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
3 cups cooked, long-grain rice
2 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, cooked
1 lb. shrimp, de-veined, shelled, cut in half & cooked
1 cup frozen peas

Hydrate the mushrooms - place them in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let them sit for 20 - 30 minutes, and then squeeze the water out of them in a kitchen towel (retaining the water in the bowl for another use - it smells heavenly). Roughly chop the mushrooms and set aside.

Start the rice cooking. My rice cooker basically does 1 cup rice and 2 cups liquid. For this recipe, I added 1 cup of water and 1 cup of the broth left behind from the mushrooms for some added flavor.

Heat 1 Tbl. peanut oil in a wok or large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Swirl the hot oil to coat the pan, and pour in the eggs. Move the eggs around to form one thin egg pancake, making sure to lift the edges as necessary to cook as much of the egg. Turn the pancake once to fully cook, and then slide the egg pancake out onto your cutting board. Cut into 1 inch pieces and leave for later.

Use a paper towel to wipe out your pan. Add the remaining peanut oil and bring the heat up to high. Add the green onions (scallions) and carrots and stir fry for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes (stir fry - high heat, constant motion - keep stirring). Add the mushrooms (if using fresh, probably add them with the carrots), garlic, pepper flakes, and ginger and stir fry for another 1 - 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, combining all the flavors and textures. Finally add the meat, egg, and peas and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, constantly stirring.

Pile the fried rice into the center of a plate, add some Sriracha sauce (optional), and enjoy!