Apprentice

Hello! It's been almost two months since we moved into our new home... Things are coming together mostly. I managed to take a break and make the time to really cook this past weekend. Without much ingredients on hand, I grabbed what was available in my fridge to make lunch. I ended up having my son in the kitchen with me, and learn how to make ham and sausage fried-rice.

These are pretty much the ingredients.
Find the full recipe here.

We added tomato paste and chili sauce for color and heat.



Spicy Basil Fried Rice

My weekend lunch at home always a one-dish meal I put together real quick, mostly from what I have handy. Half pack of fresh basil I had and leftover rice in the fridge gave me the idea of this fried rice. I also used some ground pork and Chinese broccoli (Gailan) to add some meat and vegetable to the dish. Other than that, the way I cooked it was pretty much following the recipe of Thai Spicy Basil Shrimp dish I blogged recently.

Just add the cool, leftover, cooked rice (see Thai Fried Rice: the Basic) to the stir-fry you make. Then, give it a good stir to mix rice and all the ingredients together. Give it a taste, to see if you need to add any seasonings. I usually add some soy sauce, a little sugar, and some white/black ground pepper - since rice absorbs all the sauce of the stir-fry and the flavor will get lighter. Just using high heat and keep everything in the wok moving. Then, enjoy your meal!!

See my reflection on the spoon? :)

Thai Fried Rice: The Basic

Fried rice is considered fast food in Thailand. It's quick and you can make it with mostly any ingredient you like for the variation. Everyone makes fried rice a little differently, you can always experiment, once you know the basic technique.

As quick and easy this dish is, there are essential tips needed to keep in mind if you want to make "good fried rice". As some say, fried rice is more of a formula than a single recipe.

• Leftover cooked rice: The best rice to use is leftover rice that's been lying in the fridge for at least a day. You cannot make fried rice with freshly cooked rice! The grains of leftover rice is firmer and have no excess moisture, which makes it much easier to separate. You would only get "fried mush" instead of fried rice if you made with freshly-cooked rice. However, if you can't wait a day, you can at least let the rice cool for a few hours in an airy spot. Break loose the rice with your wet fingers.
  
• Hot wok or large skillet: The reasons that restaurant-made fried rice has that smoky flavour is the high temperatures and the seasoned carbon steel woks that they use. The hot wok will caramelize rice with the soy sauce, and keep rice from sticking to the wok. It's all about high heat, and movement (from constant stirring)!
  
• Basic ingredients: Cold rice, eggs, soy sauce, and green onions are my foundation of basic fried rice. However, with the more adventurous versions, this would differently applies according to recipes.
  
• Add-on ingredients: You can use any kind of meats and seafood (shrimps, crab meat) you like, or leftover cooked meat in your fridge, or anything handy (ham, Chinese sausage, BBQ pork, or even Spam!) And for vegetables - peas, carrots, corn, tomato, bell pepper, Chinese broccoli, pineapple, raisin - any of these, and more, will do. Experiment with what you like.

I cook fried rice quite often, it's a quick one-dish meal, and a good way to clean out my refrigerator, or use up any leftover. You can be creative here, just use your judgement.. Normally, I don't have "a recipe" for cooking this dish. There is quite a variety of different versions of fried rice. I add seasonings while cooking, taste it, and adjust the flavor to my taste. I really had to take the time figuring the following recipe out, and I did test the final recipe a few time. So, here it is -- the basic recipe of Thai fried rice.

Chicken Fried Rice

You will need:
(for 3-4 servings)

• 4 cups refrigerated cooked rice
• 2 cups bite-size sliced or cubed chicken breast
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup vegetable, or other cooking oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I like Golden Mountain brand, or Mushroom flavor light soy sauce)
• 1 Tbsp black/dark soy sauce (optional - for color)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 green onions, chopped
• White pepper powder (black pepper will do just fine)
• Chopped cilantro
• Lime wedge and cucumber slices (authentic Thai style)

Directions:

1. Heat the wok over high heat. Add half of the oil. Once the oil heated up, add eggs, scramble until almost cooked through, then push it to the one side of the wok.
2. Add the rest of the oil. Then add garlics, onions, and chicken. Stir quickly, until chicken is cooked and onion is soft.
3. Add rice and give it a good stir. Keep moving and gently press the rice with the back of spatula to loosen and mix in the ingredients. Stir and scrape - add a little more oil if you have to.
4. Add soy sauce, black soy sauce, and sugar. Stir to mix thoroughly.
5. Add green onion and white pepper powder. Stir just a little bit more to mix well.
6. Garnished with chopped cilantro. And serve with lime wedge (squeeze juice on top of rice before eating), then eat with the cucumber slides as a side. Enjoy!

BBQ Pork Fried Rice

We had such a beautiful day today! Everyone was outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. Husband was working in the yard, and the kids were running around. I didn't plan ahead for dinner menu until I got home from work. Well..., actually, I planned to pick up grocery on the way home, and decide what to cook once I was at the store. But then, I was enjoying my drive so much that I drove pass my stop. Too lazy to turn around, I decided, "I'll figure it out later!".


With the leftover rice from yesterday, pantry supplies, basic vegetables (garlic, onion, and green onion) I handily had, I also found in my freezer a good-sized piece of BBQ pork that I made a couple of weeks ago. So I chopped up the BBQ pork in cubes, and stirred up some fried rice for our dinner. Adding some soy sauce, tomato paste, and eggs, made this dish even more colorful and tasty.. I even added some Sriracha hot sauce for a little kick.

By the time dinner was ready, everyone outside was soaking wet from water fight. I couldn't help but having fun watching and capturing pictures...