Fried Rice

Another food court favorite for us is Fried Rice.  I have done it many times before but it was never as good as in a good restaurant. I have always blamed my stove but when I got thinking about technique I realized that it will be possible to replicate this dish even though my gas stove is nowhere near as hot as restaurant's burner. The secret in great texture of fried rice is water content and that was where I started to experiment. I am pleased to say that first experiment was fantastic and yes, it was the ratio of water and long grain rice in rice cooker that made all the difference. High heat is very important as well, of course.

Here is size and shape of my flame. The reason that I use large frying pan instead of wok is obvious here; there is no flame at center, just edges. Most important part of the wok, the small bowl at center, will also be coldest part. Not good at all.

Back to fried rice. Almost all fried rice recipes tell you to use overnight refrigerated rice and I wholeheartedly agree. Been there, done that. On this experiment I used 1 cup of rice and 1-1/4 cup water after washing and draining the rice 4 times. After rice was cooked, about 20 minutes in Panasonic rice cooker, I spread the rice on baking sheet and let cool for about 2 hours. In a plastic container it went, making sure that it is loose and not packed, and transferred to refrigerator overnight. Next day I used large stainless steel bowl to loosen and oil the rice before stir frying. I have also added about teaspoon of Madras Curry Powder for color and heat. If you want to have it mild use plain Turmeric instead.

Next, I had to decide what ingredient is cooked first and what will follow. I really want to keep things simple in my kitchen, The KISS Principal rules supreme there! So many recipes will tell you to cook every tiny piece of vegetables separately and than combine them at the end...not for me, way too much work and you can't taste the difference anyway. My vegies don't see a frying pan till the very end, they are all nuked, some together, some separately and some stay raw. It doesn't take more than 3 minutes total!

In this version for vegies I used broccoli, green onions, carrot, red pepper, green peas and roasted peanuts and eggs. Of course I could have used bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, canned mushrooms (much better in stir-fry than fresh ones) and whole lot of other ingredients but I like to keep their number down to 4 - 5 so I was already over "enough". Only broccoli got cooked in microwave for half a minute before the final combine and ginger and garlic were cooked with rice.

As for sauce it is a bit simpler than chow mein noodles; all that is needed is Soy Sauce, Hoisin sauce and Sriracha (everything to taste, of course).

To get the rice to just right texture and dryness took just 5 minutes or so because the rice was already fairly dry. I did stir-fry the garlic and ginger first before adding the rice.

When the rice was done in went the vegies and pieces of 2 egg omelet that was cooked in separate small frying pan. For more substantial version I have added chicken thighs and shrimps. The sauce went in right after vegies were mixed in and heated. You just want taste and keep the rice dry so don't use too much.

I'll post my recipe for stir-fried chicken and shrimps in separate blog. They can be used in chow mein or fried rice.



Mushrooms, Celery and Chicken Risotto

Since it was quite miserable outside I just felt for something comforting but light and some kind risotto filled the bill. I had one chicken breast, celery and Cremini mushrooms on hand so recipe was born. It is very similar to Chicken and Mushroom Risotto that I have posted earlier. It may seem like lot of mushrooms but the shrink to about 1/4 of its volume.

Risotto is very versatile meal. This time I cooked enough of it to have a lot for leftover. Next day I prepared Risotto Cakes and whit what was left I cooked risotto soup. I just used 1 part of risotto for 2 parts of chicken stock by volume. It tasted fantastic and the soup was done in 15 minutes! After all, everything was cooked already.

Ingredients
2 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 stalks of celery
2 skinless chicken breasts
3 shallots
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch of Saffron
4-1/2cups chicken stock (heated)
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Oil
Salt & pepper

 Directions

Slice the celery diagonally across into 1/8” slices. Chop the chicken breast into 3/8” pieces, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and coat with 1 Tbs. of olive oil.

Heat up the chicken stock and keep hot.

Heat 1 tsp. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and toss to coat all slices. Cook till mushrooms show nice color (do not move them too much). Add celery and cook until it softens, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 – 7 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked. Remove chicken, mushrooms and celery to a bowl and keep warm.

In the same skillet that you cooked mushrooms and chicken, sauté shallots and garlic in remaining butter and oil until shallots are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice turns opaque, about two minutes.

Add the wine to the rice and stir frequently until the wine has been absorbed into the rice.

Add 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock and stir until absorbed. The rice and stock should bubble gently.

Continue to cook the rice, adding chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the bottom of skillet continuously, and allowing the rice to absorb the stock before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

With the last addition of stock return chicken, mushrooms and celery to the skillet and sprinkle with half of Parmigiano cheese.

Cook rice, scraping the bottom of skillet continuously, until al dente, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat when the risotto is thick and creamy.

Serve on pre-heated plate or bowl and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano and parsley. Serve immediately.

Chicken Breast Strips with Vegetables

All the veggies I used in this recipe were from my garden and it did taste very fresh. From start to finish it took just little under 30 minutes.

Main thing is to do all the prep first, start boiling water for pasta and you are on a roll. Also, I just do not like mushy vegetables, texture is terrible, they are tasteless and void of any vitamins, so I cook them just until they are al dente or “soft to the tooth”. Same goes with the chicken breasts, they are so easy to overcook. I just cook them till juices run clear when pierced with sharp point of knife or if there is no pink meat when you cut half way in.

I served this meal with wide noodles but I could have used gnocchi, rice or even potatoes with this sauce.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts cut into 1” strips across

3 shallots or 1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup of chopped eggplant

2 red peppers, seeded and chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped or small can whole tomatoes

1 tsp. dry basil or 1 Tbs. fresh chopped basil

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

2 Tbs. olive oil

Wide noodles or gnocchi, rice or even potatoes

Season the chicken breast strips with salt and pepper and coat with 1 Tbs. of olive oil. (I like to use small but deep stainless steel bowl.)

Cook pasta, toss in tablespoon of butter and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in medium hot frying pan or skillet, drop in the chicken strips and cook on all sides. Test if they are done and remove to bowl. Set aside and keep them warm.

In the same skillet sauté shallots and garlic until shallots are translucent and garlic is fragrant, then add eggplant, peppers and tomatoes and cook on medium high heat until peppers feel soft, about 5 minutes.

Add basil and balsamic vinegar and stir to mix.

Add pasta, chicken strips and mix till pasta is coated with the sauce and chicken and pasta are reheated.

Serve on warm plates and garnish with extra basil.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

Last few days I had craving for nice creamy risotto so I checked my posts to see what kind I cooked last time. I was very surprised that I didn’t post any regular rise risotto recipe, none at all!

Risotto is so versatile. You can prepare it with so many different meats and vegetables and mix them right in risotto at the end of cooking or serve them on top. Since I bought King Oyster Mushrooms and farm fresh chicken breasts I wanted to use these two ingredients as a main topping. I just love these mushrooms for their taste and texture. Also, since I do have saffron on hand at all times, the risotto I have made was classical “Risotto alla Milanese”.

Ingredients

3 tsp. olive oil

3 Tbs. butter

2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 skinless chicken breasts

1-1/2 cups Arborio rice

3 shallots

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup dry white wine

Pinch of Saffron

4-1/2cups chicken stock (heated)

1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese

2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Oil

Salt & pepper

Directions

Heat 1 tsp. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and toss to coat all slices. Cook till mushrooms show nice color (do not move them too much). When done, remove to bowl and keep warm.

Preheat oven or toaster-oven to 375 °F. In the same skillet where you cooked mushrooms, add 1 Tbs. butter and 1 tsp. oil and cook chicken breast for about 3 minutes on each side or until both sides are golden brown. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, place in baking dish (I use steel pie plate) and roast in oven for about 15 minutes or till juices run clear when pierced with sharp pointed knife. Do not overcook! Remove from oven, cover with foil and let the breasts rest but keep warm.

In the same skillet that you cooked mushrooms and chicken, sauté shallots and garlic in remaining butter and oil until shallots are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice turns opaque, about two minutes.

Add the wine to the rice and stir frequently until the wine has been absorbed into the rice.

Add 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock and stir until absorbed. The rice and stock should bubble gently.

Continue to cook the rice, adding chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time and allowing the rice to absorb it before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

Cook rice until al dente, about 25-30 minutes.

With the addition of last batch of stock add the grated parmesan cheese and 2 Tbs. of butter and stir thoroughly.

Remove from heat when the risotto is thick and creamy.

Serve on pre-heated plate or bowl, top with mushrooms and slices of chicken breast and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano and parsley.  

Serve immediately.

Veal Schnitzel and Rice

This is a classical version. I usually use pork tenderloin but since I bought some nice veal at local farmers market I just couldn’t resist and since we didn’t have a rice with schnitzel for a while it was a side dish of choice. And, of course, wedge of lemon and some pickles balanced the meal perfectly.

Pan Fried Salmon, Green Beans and Red Pepper.

Because of versatility and taste salmon is my favorite fish. This is one of the simplest versions I have made. It can be made in less then 20 minutes, including preparation, same time as rice takes to cook. I have to mention, though, that the red pepper was already cleaned from prep for previous meal so all I had to do was remove ends from green beans and slice them in half and prepare the wasabi sauce.

Again, this is so simple.

Ingredients:

§    Salmon fillet portion, skin on or skinless, 1 per person

§    Salt and White pepper

§    Green Beans, ends removed and cut in half lengthwise and pre-cooked in microwave for 1 minute.

§    Red Pepper, julienned

§    1 tsp. olive oil

§    1 tsp. butter

Sauce:

§    1 tsp. wasabi powder mixed with 1 tsp. water

§    1/3 cup Mayonnaise

§    2 Tbs. Maple Syrup

Mix all ingredients till smooth

Direction:

Season salmon with salt and pepper (for that little extra I use smoked sea salt).

Preheat frying pan with butter and oil on medium high. Add salmon skin side up together with beans and peppers. When salmon is opaque 1/3 up, about 2 minutes, turn over skin side down and stir beans and peppers. When salmon is almost flaky, about another 2 – 3 minutes, remove from heat and serve on preheated plate with rice, beans and red pepper. Spoon wasabi/mayo/maple syrup sauce on side or on top of salmon.

This will be our post golf game lunch, I think. So tasty and fast.

Beef Rouladen (Hovězí Ptáčky)

As far as I know most European country has a version of this meal. In some places pork is used but mostly very thin piece of beef roast is the traditional cut.

The filling varies from place to place, not only between countries. In North Bohemia traditional filling is smoked bacon, sausage, onions, hard boiled egg and pickle. This time I made half sized version but recipe is for a full sized Rouladen.

Ingredients:

Rouladen

4 slices of rouladen beef (see note bellow)

4” piece of Polish Kielbasa, skin removed and cut into 4 pieces, lengthwise

1 hard boiled egg, quartered

4 pickles, cut in half, lengthwise

4 slices smoked and pre-cooked bacon or ham

1/2 chopped onion

Dijon mustard

Hungarian Paprika

Black pepper and salt

Note: Rouladen beef is cut from rump or round roast and is about 1/4” thick and about 6” wide and 10” long and is tenderized with mallet. This makes the beef quite larger and tender.

Sauce

2 slices smoked bacon, chopped fine

1/2 chopped onion

Dijon mustard

Hungarian Paprika

Black pepper and salt

1/2 cup of red wine or Marsala

Direction:

Place beef on cutting board with wider end closer to you.

Spread about 1 Tbs. of mustard on front half ob beef and season with paprika, pepper and salt.

Place bacon or ham on top, followed by sausage, pickle, onions and egg.

Make sure that all toppings, except bacon, are on a nice pile. Start rolling away from you. After 1 and 1/2 turns fold the sides over to enclose the filling and finish rolling. Make sure the roll is tight. Secure with butchers twine around and across.

This time I did half size rolls.

Heat frying pan with 1 Tbs. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter on medium high. Brown rolls on all sides and set aside. Do not crowd in pan.

When all rolls are browned discard the oil and butter. Add 1 tsp. of fresh butter and chopped bacon. Brown bacon and then add onions and sauté till golden brown. Pour in wine and scrape all fond from bottom of pan. Add chopped pickles and return beef rolls into pan, bring to gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Add wine as necessary if sauce is too low.

Add mustard and chopped eggs and simmer for 5 more minutes. Do not boil or mustard will become bitter.

Remove rolls from pan, cut the twine and slice into 1/2” thick slices.

Serve on preheated plate with the sauce and rice.

Dinner Ideas or My Week in Kitchen

Actually, this is what I have prepared last week J.

Last week I prepared our meals using first item that caught my eye in fridge, freezer or pantry.  Basically, I was just improvising all week long. Most meals were sort of inspired by weather. It was all over the board, one day it was sunny and in mid 20s and next day the temperature stayed in single digits.

Bok Choy and Noodle Chicken Soup

Nice comfort food. With Long Asian egg noodles it is nice vegetarian lunch. Beside bok choy I have added julienned carrots and green onions.

Pork Tenderloin Schnitzel with Potatoes.

As usual, I used Panko instead of traditional bread crumbs for that extra crunch. Served with wedge of lemon and gherkin on side. Leftover schnitzel is great with rye bread as a sandwich.

Beef Rouladen with Rice.

I will post full recipe later today.

Green Beans, Red pepper, Hot Italian Sausage and Potato Sauté.

Nice peasant meal and simplicity itself. Start boiling potatoes cut into serving pieces. Meanwhile, sauté sausage with skin removed, add green beans and julienned red pepper and drizzle little white wine over it to create some steam. Cover and cook about 3 minutes. Mixed in boiled potatoes and serve. Because the sausage is so strongly flavored you don’t really need additional herbs or spices.

Thin Crust Pizza

I used my own pizza dough and sauce. For topping it was 4 cheese mix and toped with zucchini, red pepper, sweet onions, Cremini mushrooms and hot Italian sausage. Our favorite and I bake it almost every week.

Beef Congee

It never stops amaze me what you can do with just one half cup of rice, some stock and 1-1/2 to 2 hours of your time. For topping I used shredded flank steak marinated with soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil, freshly roasted peanuts, green onions and arugula. Arugula was a substitute for coriander that I didn’t have. Congee has to be cooked very, very slowly, just a little bubbles coming up, or it will burn.

Salmon with Green Beans and Red Pepper.

This meal deserves its own post. I will post full recipe right after the Rouladen recipe.

Beef and Mushroom Stew with Dumplings

The stews are so difficult to photograph. Anyway, this is regular beef stew with about dozen quartered cremini mushrooms added just 10 minutes before plating. Short cooking time doesn’t shrink them and they don’t release all their juices. This stew had more mushrooms then meat and tasted great.

Update of The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Monday

Western Beef Stir-fry.

The rice was cooked like a regular fried rice with vegetables but the beef steak was cook in a hot frying pan till medium rare and then sliced into 1” wide strips on bias and then tossed with BBQ sauce. Since no knife is necessary in order to eat it, it makes it a good branch meal where all you need is a fork or chopsticks.

Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Wings.

Yah, I know, I had it last week and maybe week before that but hey, they are so good! Sweet and hot and sticky…heaven on the plate. As is usual for me I served it on bed of chopped Napa cabbage.

Wednesday

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

This was a nice light lunch. It was just a previously made chicken stock with meat, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, rice and topped with Parmigiano cheese. I put a Parmigiano cheese rind in the stock and simmered it for 30 minutes and it gave the soup such a complex flavor! Since I have so much rind from the cheese I will use it in every soup base.

Thursday

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Rice was the last staple that I didn’t use with frozen seafood mix. Week ago I saw on Food Channel tip for using frozen scallops and squids. As anybody that used them knows that they have a sort of metallic after taste that is hard to get rid off. I think it was on America’s Test Kitchen, they suggested to use lemon juice. I went one step farther: I have marinated the mix with grated zest and juice from 1 lemon. Did it work? Not a trace of any chemical preservatives. Not exactly like fresh stuff but pretty good. This trick will be in my repertoire from now on.

Friday

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Many restaurants cook risotto for a sole purpose of having it for cakes and I can understand why. When you bite into one first sensation is the super crispy Panko coating. Then you feel the cheesy and creamy rice followed by melted, stringy Mozzarella Bocconcini. Then you take a bite of crispy Napa cabbage. Wow! This is not a leftover meal, this is a meal worthy to be on a banquet menu. I did make one change since I cooked my last risotto: before forming the patty or cake, I mixed in a lot of grated Parmigiano cheese to help in binding it and hold shape. Great move! After all, I bought so much cheese at a basement price J !

Saturday

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.

In my opinion this version is so much juicier, tender and quicker to prepare then traditional cooking method over barbecue. Even though I have marinated for 6 hours skinless and boneless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch strips, I am not sure that it is necessary when cooked in non-stick frying pan. The chicken pieces are basically sauted in the marinade and when I turn then over after about 10 minutes I add the green onions and cook another 10 minutes, partially covered. At the end of cooking time the marinade turns into a thick sauce. Served over rice along with cucumber salad makes it a summer delight.

Chicken Fried Rice

Another fried rice recipe, this time chicken tenders (part of chicken breast) being main ingredient. This is very similar to Fried Rice with Char Siu recipe posted last February. Major difference is omission of shrimps and use of chicken tenders in place of Char Siu.

Here is my version of this dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken tender strips, cut in half lengthwise

1 carrot, julienned

3 Chinese mushrooms

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup green peas

1” piece ginger, chopped

Garlic, 1 clove chopped

2 eggs

3 cups leftover and refrigerated rice

2 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. white pepper

Preparation (mise en place):

§    Soak mushrooms in a 1:1mixture of hot water and dark soy sauce, for at least 1/2 hour. Remove stems and cut into 1/4” slices. Reserve 1/4 cup of the water.

§    Marinate chicken strips, in 1 Tbs. of rice wine, 1 Tbs. dark soy sauce,1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. sugar and 1/2 tsp. white pepper.

§    Peel and julienne carrots into 1/4” pieces. Parboil for 1 minute in boiling salted water. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and set aside.

§    Cut green onions diagonally into 1” pieces and separate white and green parts.

§    Soak frozen green peas in salted hot water for 1/2 hour, drain and set aside.

§    Beat eggs in a bowl with fork, add salt and white pepper and set aside.

§    Crush and chop ginger and garlic and set aside.

§    Break up clumps of cold rice till you have individual grains. Set aside.

Sauce:

1/4 cup mushroom soaking water

1 Tbs. of Oyster sauce

1 Tbs. of Hoisin sauce

Stir together all ingredients till well combined.

Directions:

§    Heat a wok and add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. When wok is very hot add eggs and scramble lightly. Remove to preheated bowl, break up the eggs, set aside and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of salt and drop in the rice. Stir till rice is evenly coated and grains are separated. Remove to bowl with eggs.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add chicken with marinade and stir-fry for 2 minutes or till cooked through. Remove to bowl with rice and eggs and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for few seconds then add mushrooms and stir.

§    Add previously prepared green peas, carrots and white parts of green onions. Stir-fry till well combined.

§    Add reserved rice, shrimps and eggs and mix well till all ingredients are very hot.

§    Pour sauce on side of wok and stir.

§    Serve immediately in individual preheated bowls and garnish with green parts of onions and coriander (optional).

Seafood Mix Fried Rice

This is experiment #2 with seafood mix that contains ingredients with different cooking times. As I pointed out in my recipe for Seafood Mix with Pasta, this presents quite a challenge for a cook. After I have prepared the fried rice one thing became very clear to me: the mix has to be just heated through. If you cook it much longer then 2 minutes you end up with some tough inedible seafood. Another thing I discovered is that I had much better results if I thawed out the mix in cold water for about 1/2 hour, drained and marinated in appropriate seasonings. The squid rings and cuttlefish slabs benefited the most; they have perfect texture when cooked.

As is with any fried rice recipe, this one has few steps. Fried rice is not a meal where you plop a pot on a stove and walk away.  When you wok, you wok non-stop J.

Ingredients (in order of prep):

1 tsp. peanut oil

2 beaten eggs with 1 tsp. rice wine and pinch of salt

1 tsp. peanut oil

1/2” piece of ginger, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1/2 red pepper, diced

3 scallions, cut into 1” pieces and white and green parts separated

4 water chestnuts, diced

1/2 cup green peas

1 Chinese sausage (Lap Chong), steamed for 10 minutes and sliced on diagonal

I leaf Napa cabbage, shredded or 1 cup blanched bean sprouts

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (cremini, shitake, oyster or King oyster)

1 tsp. peanut oil

2 cups day old and refrigerated rice, clumps broken into individual grains

1 tsp. salt

1 cup frozen seafood mix, soaked and defrosted in 3 cups of cold water

1/2” piece of ginger, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 Tbs. rice wine

2 tsp. fish sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Prepare all ingredients in 5 bowls.

1. Beat eggs in bowl 1 with 1 tsp. rice wine and pinch of salt and reserve.
2. In a large bowl #2 mix pepper, white part of scallions, water chestnuts, green peas, Lap Chong, cabbage and mushrooms and reserve.
3. In large bowl #3 add the rice and separate into individual grains. The rice should be very cold. Sprinkle with salt and reserve.
4. In a bowl #4 add drained seafood mix and toss with ginger, garlic, rice wine, fish sauce and sesame oil. Mix till all ingredients are well coated.
5. Heat up a large steel bowl #5 and keep close to wok.

Directions:

1. Heat a wok and add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. When wok is very hot add eggs from bowl #1 and scramble lightly. Remove to preheated bowl, break up the eggs, set aside and keep warm.
2. Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add ingredients from bowl #2 and stir fry for about a minute. Remove to bowl with eggs.
3. Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Drop in the rice and stir fry till rice is evenly coated and grains are separated and rice is lightly colored. Remove to bowl with eggs.
4. Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Drop in bowl #4 and cook for 1 minute.

Add all contents of bowl #5, mix till all ingredients are well combined and serve in one large serving plate or individual bowls. Sprinkle fried rice with green parts of scallions and serve immediately.

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

This is so easy and fast to make that it will be my favorite standby on a busy days in any season. When I say fast I mean fast, provided that you have teriyaki sauce on hand.

Ingredients:

4 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces

4 green onions (scallions) cut into 1” pieces

4 fresh or 8 canned water chestnuts, halved and sliced

3 Tbs. Teriyaki sauce.

2 cups rice

Directions:

Marinate the chicken pieces in teriyaki sauce and keep refrigerated.

Steam the rice, fluff it up and keep warm.

When rice is ready, heat up dry wok or non-stick frying pan and when very hot drop in marinated chicken. Stir to cook on all sides for 2 minutes.

Add green onions and water chestnuts and stir fry for additional 3 minutes.

Remove to preheated plate or bowl and serve with rice.

Nice addition to this meal is simple cucumber salad consisting of 1/2 an English cucumber sliced thin and tossed in dressing made with 1 Tbs. Mirin and 1 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar.

Fried Rice with Char Siu

Barbecue Pork Fried Rice

It is absolutely amazing in how many Chinese dishes this great barbecued pork is used. Dim Sums, soups, noodles, rice and even deserts! This pork fried rice is another restaurant favorite. To make it at home traditional way is, as usual, a bit tedious since everything has to be cut in uniform sizes and cuts and then each item is cooked separately. As with so many dishes less is sometimes more. By substituting just one or two items will change the texture and taste of a dish that it is in reality another item on most restaurants menus. It is always better to use at least one day old and refrigerated long grain rice.

Here is my version of this dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup Char Siu, cut into 1/4” strips

12 large shrimps, shell, tail and veins removed

1 carrot, julienned

3 Chinese mushrooms

2 green onions

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 cup green peas

1” piece ginger, chopped

Garlic, 1 clove chopped

2 eggs

3 cups leftover and refrigerated rice

2 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. white pepper

Preparation (mise en place):

§    Soak mushrooms in hot water for at least 1/2 hour. Remove stems and cut into 1/4” slices. Reserve 1/4 cup of the water.

§    Marinate shrimps in 1 Tbs. of rice wine and sprinkle of salt, sugar and white pepper.

§    Cut ends of green beans and cut diagonally into 1” pieces. Parboil for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and set aside.

§    Peel and julienne carrots into 1/4” pieces. Parboil for 1 minute in boiling salted water. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and set aside.

§    Cut green onions diagonally into 1” pieces and separate white and green parts.

§    Soak frozen green peas in salted hot water for 1/2 hour, drain and set aside.

§    Beat eggs in a bowl with fork, add salt and white pepper and set aside.

§    Crush and chop ginger and garlic and set aside.

§    Break up clumps of cold rice till you have individual grains. Set aside

Sauce:

1/4 cup mushroom soaking water

1 Tbs. of Oyster sauce

1 Tbs. of Hoisin sauce

Stir together all ingredients till well combined.

Directions:

§    Heat a wok and add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. When wok is very hot add eggs and scramble lightly. Remove to preheated bowl, break up the eggs, set aside and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of salt and drop in the rice. Stir till rice is evenly coated and grains are separated. Remove to bowl with eggs.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add shrimps with marinade and stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove to bowl with rice and eggs and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for few seconds then add mushrooms and stir.

§    Add the pork strips and stir till heated through.

§    Add previously prepared green beans, green peas, carrots and white parts of green onions. Stir-fry till well combined.

§    Add reserved rice, shrimps and eggs and mix well till all ingredients are very hot.

§    Pour sauce on side of wok and stir.

Serve immediately in individual preheated bowls and garnish with green parts of onions.