I always have leftover rice in the fridge. It doesn't matter how much or little I make, there always seems to be leftovers. In the past I would dutifully go through the ritual of putting the leftovers in the fridge. Sometimes I would attempt to reheat and serve it but I couldn't get any takers. No one seemed to like it in soup, either. What could I do? Eureka! Fried Rice, of course! Not only is this great for using your leftover rice but for anything else you have hanging around your fridge (such as last night's chicken or vegetables.) It is a huge hit here and my family likes it way better than what you get at the restaurant.
Here is what you will need:
These are some basic ingredients that I use. Toasted Sesame oil, a medium sized yellow onion, two eggs, garlic, fresh ginger root, soy sauce and some frozen veggies. This is a great meal on it's own but you can add chicken, shrimp or whatever you think might taste great. I really think the key to this recipe is the fresh garlic and ginger. They really give it that extra kick.
The first thing you want to do is get out a cutting board and mince the garlic and ginger, then dice your onion.
The ginger is always a little clumsy to cut but I just hack off a piece and use the vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Then I use my planer (I LOVE this thing.) Just be careful to not accidentally let your skin too close to it. It works just as well on human skin as it does on vegetable skin. (I found that out the hard way....)
I like to precook my veggies or use leftovers. If you are using frozen veggies, you can saute them first for a couple of minutes, then remove from the pan.
Now that you have all your ingredients chopped and ready to go, get out a nice sized frying pan and add 1-2 T of sesame oil and heat it up on medium high heat. Once it is heated and sizzling a little, add your onion. Saute the onion for a couple of minutes until it is slightly translucent, then add your ginger and garlic.
Add your ginger and garlic and cook for a minute or two until combined.
Next, add your rice. I had about 4 1/2 cups.
I added my rice and as you can see it is clumpy from being in the fridge. Add your soy sauce. I started with 1/4 cup and mixed all the ingredients together while stirring and using my spatula to chop up the rice a bit.
When all was said and done, I added another 1/2 cup of soy sauce so a total of 3/4 cup.
Once you are satisfied that the rice is free of clumps and the mixture is evenly distributed, push aside some of the rice and add two beaten eggs and scramble them. You can gently move the rice around so it doesn't burn. Once the eggs are cooked, mix the whole thing together, then add in your veggies.
Doesn't that look delicious?
Viola! Now sit and enjoy!
Warmly,
Pam