Friday, July 4, 2008

Simple Fried Rice

When my dear friend, DK, announced that China was the destination for this month's AWED, I really didn't know what I could contribute. I've tried very hard to replicate Chinese flavors at home, without much success - it always seems to require ingredients that I end up substituting, and then it just never tastes the same.

I love spicy food, but when it comes to Chinese, I'm not a huge Indian Chinese person. I much prefer stir fried Bok Choy and Greens to Cauliflower Manchurian. This is one of the staples we used to make - a very simple fried rice, which was always well appreciated.


Simple Fried Rice

1.5 cups cooked long grain Rice (chilled overnight in the refrigerator (leftovers are perfect) - the rice needs to be cold. I used Basmati)
3/4 cup or more Bean Sprouts
2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 tsp Soy Sauce
2-3 Spring Onions (white and green parts chopped separately)
1/2 cup Mushrooms (I used button, but shiitake are preferable)
1 Egg, beaten with a tsp of water

Heat a tsp of sesame oil in a pan. When hot add the garlic, white parts of the spring onions, mushrooms and soy sauce. Stir fry until mushrooms are cooked. Remove from heat and keep aside.


Add the egg to the pan and swirl around to form a very thin layer. Let it set (about a minute), then gently slide off the pan and roll into a cigar shape. Cut cross-wise to form the restaurant-style strips.


Now add the cold rice to the pan, saute for a minute and then add the mushroom mixture. Toss with the rice for about 2 minutes until combined. Add the egg and toss through. I like to add some more bean sprouts at this point to add some crunchiness, but its completely optional. Now add the chopped green parts of the spring onion.


Serve with stir-fried greens.


This rice can obviously be made very personal by adding or subtracting any of the veggies. It tastes great with peas, carrots as well. Feel free to leave out the mushrooms or eggs if you don't enjoy them. This is a very basic recipe that can be easily customized for your taste.

18 comments:

Radhika said...

the rice looks absolutely mouth watering.....

FH said...

Eggs and sprouts, that is Heaven, looks great A!:)

amna said...

i love the addition of sprouts and mushrooms. normally i go for the boring carrots-beans thingie :D even i have made fried rice for this event, plus baby corn manchurian :)

Bharti said...

Yummy...any kind of fried rice is good with me. I usually make double quantity for me to much on the next 2 days. I like the shitake mushroom idea and also the sprouts.

DK said...

I m coming stright to ur house - to give u a hug of course! choooooooo chweeet for u to send me the rice :) I wud make everything else the same way except the egg of course hehehe - U know what - I made similar rice yday with brown rice and I added Egg too for *him* after scooping some for myself without them!:)

I will add the eggs this way - i tried in diff way- will make n update :)

Srivalli said...

that looks great anu...and it reminds me that I am yet to get mine in place..

jayasree said...

Good presentation, esp the last pic. I shall try without eggs.

Deepthi Shankar said...

looks yum .. never made fried rice with leftover rice .. shall try it soon

Swati Raman Garg said...

anu i love to see u adding egg to everything you make... another egg partner or me n siri... ur fried rice looks perfect...

Mandira said...

delicious and quick, love the presentation!

Sujatha said...

fried rice looks fabulous! perfect and simple..

Arundathi said...

Thanks everyone. Do let me know if you tried it - would love to know if you guys loved it as much as we did!

Baskaran said...

What exactly is the difference between pilaf and biryani
We recently had an opportunity to taste Vegetable biriyani from a wayside restaurant in Chennai.
The biriyani was awesome !!!!mildly flavoured with spices crispy soft not mushy or greasy.
What spices and in what proportions are used in making biriyani that gives this soul touching fragrance?
Regards
Baskaran

Arundathi said...

Baskaran - I'd love to the name of the wayside restaurant or where it was. was it vegetarian?
I always thought that Biryani has lots of spices and flavors whereas a pulao is mildly spiced with just one or maybe 2 flavors.
I have a biryani recipe on my blog if you are interested...

Baskaran said...

Yes it was Vegetable Biriyani.I do not remember the name of the restaurant exactly (probably Buharis) which is located near the Egmore Railway Station. We had this Biriyani when we were scheduled to travel to Kodaikanal.
We will try out the biriyani recipe posted by you
Thanks
Baskaran

Anonymous said...

i am a chinese food freak! love your simple chinese fried rice.. its on my list of "to cook" now.
mandira

Arundathi said...

Baskaran - thanks - I've heard the Buharis biryani is very good!

Churning the word mill - thanks for stopping by - do try it and let me know! :)

Unknown said...

Heat 1 teaspoon of the peanut oil in heated large wok or heavy-base frying pan. Cook half of the egg; swirl wok to make a thin omelet. Remove omelet from wok; roll omelet and cut into thin strips. Repeat with remaining egg. Heat remaining peanut oil and sesame oil in wok; stir-fry bacon until brown. Add brown onion, celery, garlic and ginger; stir-fry over high heat until vegetables are just tender. Add rice, omelet and remaining ingredients to wok; stir-fry, tossing, until well combined and heated through.
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Sharyl


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