How to Make Fried Rice

Every once in a while I will decide to have a Chinese night. I often make potstickers, stir fried vegetables, egg drop soup, or some kind of lo mein. But no matter what, I always make fried rice. What I love about it is that it is a recipe you can adjust to what you have in the fridge.

I start by steaming two cups of brown rice in my steamer. I cook two scrambled eggs in a deep skillet and then set the eggs aside. In a little oil, I quickly cook a couple of garlic cloves and about 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger. Then I add the rice. I usually add about 1/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari and cook it for about 10 minutes, stirring once in a while, so some of the rice gets a little crunchy and it all gets an opportunity to become less sticky.

Next I add veggies. You can add anything you want. I always like to use bean sprouts and some chopped napa cabbage or bok choy. Broccoli crowns, diced carrot, frozen peas, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, or just about anything else you have hanging around works well. I usually saute things like broccoli, carrots or zucchini enough to soften them, before adding tem because they take much longer to cook in the rice. Sometimes I add a few teaspoons of hoisin, stir fry sauce, or sesame oil to give it a different taste. I add the eggs back in at the very end.

My kids love this and it tastes so much better, and has so many more veggies in it than take out.

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Sesame Chicken

My kids love sesame chicken takeout. If we get takeout (a rare occurrence) we have to get two large orders of this to prevent fisticuffs. I don’t mind it, but always seem to end up with a piece that is fatty or grisly, so I don’t eat much of it. They like it because it is sweet and deep fried.

I came upon a recipe for sesame chicken by Ellie Krieger in Food Network Magazine’s Sept issue. No deep frying involved, yet it promised a flavorful dish that is a good substitute. The verdict? They’re right. The chicken is browned in a bit of oil so it gets a nice flavor to it and the sauce is complex and rich. I really liked this a lot. I served it with some somen noodles. Like seemingly all Asian dishes, there are a lot of ingredients and steps, but I would say this was definitely worth it.

5 tbsp soy sauce

4 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tsp honey

1 1/4 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch chunks

6 tsp canola oil

2 scallions

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 c chicken broth

3 tbsp sugar

3-4 tsp cornstarch

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp chili paste

4 cups snowpeas, trimmed

cooked brown rice

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

whisk 3 tbsp of soy sauce with 2 tsp sesame oil and honey. Add chicken and marinate 20 min.

Remove chicken from marinade and cook in 2 tsp oil in nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook in 2 batches, turning once or twice, until done, about 3-5 min

Remove chicken and wipe out pan. Heat 2 tsp oil and add scallions (reserving some tops to sprinkle on dish), ginger, garlic and cook for 1 min. Whisk broth, sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, chili paste, and remaining 2 tbsp soy sauce in a bowl. Add to the pan and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Add remaining 2 tsp sesame oil.

Cook snow peas in a steamer 2-3 min.

Return chicken to pan and heat through. Serve over brown rice with snow peas. Top with sesame seeds and reserved scallion.