Fried rice paradise

A couple of weeks ago, K, myself and a couple of friends went off to watch Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately, our session time was a bit of a gastronomic limbo. Too early to meet up and have dinner before and a little too late after the movie ends. So we’ve decided that’ll we’ll take care of our own dinners and meet up at the cinema. We spent the day pottering about and doing things around the house. Before you know it, we had to get ready for the movie and something to eat before.

A quick rummage through the fridge yielded some leftover rice, vegetables and a tin of corned beef. The natural conclusion for a quick yet satisfying meal would be: fried rice. When I was growing up grandma would always, always cook fried rice with any leftover food from the night before, so it was never exactly the same. So, to me, it’s bit like bubble and squeak: a way to use up leftovers in a simple but tasty way.

With this philosophy in mind, fried rice really comprises 3 parts. Rice, filling and seasoning. Easy to make and there’s no real right or wrong way to do it. Any leftover meat, lefover or fresh vegetables is great. Seasoned with well, pretty much whatever is to hand. Soy sauce, sesame oil, dark soy, chilli sauce, ketchup, sambal. It all works. In fact, to me there are only 2 requirements for a successful fried rice, have everything ready to go before you start cooking, and a smoking hot wok. Grandma had (and still does I believe) a 3 ring burner used exclusively for wok cooking that creates excellent wok hei. I’ve managed to achieve this somewhat by letting the wok heat up on a standard gas stove for a minute or so before cooking.

For our pre movie dinner, we had corned beef fried rice with some fresh veggies and seasoned very simply with soy and oyster sauce.

Information

  • Prep time: 10 – 15 mins
  • Cooking time: 5 – 7 mins
  • Serves: 2

What’s in it

  • Leftover white rice.
  • 1/2 tin of corned beef cut into cubes.
  • 2 medium carrots, sliced into half moons.
  • 2 stalks of celery, sliced.
  • 2 eggs, beaten.
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced.
  • Soy sauce, to taste.
  • Oyster sauce, to taste.
  • Tablespoon of peanut or vegetable oil.

How I did it

Into a really hot wok, add the oil. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the mince garlic and toss furiously until fragrant and it starts to brown. Next throw in the cubed corned beef and toss through. The beef will start to break up as it cooks. I’ve cut it into fairly large chunks because I still want to have bits of it in the final dish.

Once the beef starts to break up and soften, throw in all the veggies and toss around quickly. When the veggies start to soften it’s time to add the rice. Break up the rice and toss thoroughly to incorporate the grains with the rest of the ingredients. Now, make a well in the middle of the wok and add the beaten eggs. Allow the eggs to cook a little and form a skin before stirring gently to break it up. Slowly fold the eggs with the remaining ingredients. Finally add the seasonings to taste. Toss to incorporate and serve up hot.

What are your favourite fried rice recipes?