Fried Rice

As I sit bracing for winter to drop sub-degree temperatures on me yet again, I find myself dreaming of warmer days when I lived in sunny Southern California. There are so many things I miss about my time there, not the least being amazing home delivered take-out. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the occasional pizza man every now and then, but gone are the days of home delivered sushi or burrito bowls, warm Cubanos or spicy curries & samosas. Since I refuse to open my backdoor and step out into this seasonal tundra I am resigned to what is in my naked refrigerator. Thank goodness for my memory of many Benihanna evenings & too much leftover plain rice. I had my dinner solution.  This is a comfort food that I ALWAYS have the ingredients for on hand & I encourage you to add them to your pantries.

When I cook rice I always make too much... on purpose! If not for fried rice then for Armenian Mint Yogurt Soup, mmmm... that's a good staple one that I have most of the ingredients for too. This dish is a great way to use up leftovers. I laugh thinking of all the times we made this & making sure that we had enough of it to make even more leftovers. I makes next week's lunch perfect. Believe it or not fried rice works better with day old rice. It holds its shape better and forms a better "socarrat," you know, that crunchy caramelized tasty rice that forms on the bottom of the pan... I'll fight you for it. In my freezer I always have frozen vegetables, they're super cheap & they were flash frozen at the peak of ripeness along with all their vitamins & minerals. Next time you're at  the store grab a bag of peas & carrots for 99¢ (it's a good one for chicken potpie too).

 I also always have canned Chinese vegetables in my pantry. They don't go bad & sometimes I just open them & snack on them right out of the can. I would have also used canned mushrooms but I had a bag of fresh ones that needed to used from my vegetable drawer. Onions, garlic & eggs are just everyday staples in my kitchen along with soy sauce & sesame oil. 

 The great thing about fried rice is it can be made with anything you have on hand. No peas & carrots, how about frozen broccoli? Have left over steak or a bag of frozen shrimp? More important than the ingredients is how they are cooked... quick & in layers.  I always start with the eggs because I like my eggs bright yellow & fluffy & definitely not over cooked. This way I take them right out of the wok & put them aside.

Everything after that gets put into the wok in a layered fashion so that flavors can build on each other & more delicate ingredients are left to the end to preserve color and texture.

 onions with a touch of oil are quickly cooked until translucent

mushrooms are added & allowed to brown

meats are added to the wok (trust me if I had a pork chop, steak, or shrimp in my freezer that too would have been sliced up & added to the wok) & pushed up the sides after they cook through

 canned vegetables are added and heated with additional oil as needed

rice is finally added

 This is heated through & allowing our crispy rice on the bottom to form

Finally add frozen vegetables to heat through. Season with soy sauce & taste for balance

 Hot sauce & more soy sauce can be altered for individual taste.

Raise it up for Benihanna & fried rice... who needs delivery?