Fried Rice

Rich Rice

Personally I am a big fan of parboiled rice, but it’ll work with basmati, or any other rice you prefer. Just make sure that you boil it with a little less water than normal. You want your rice done, but on the dry side. I like to work with a mild curry mix for this one, but you can pick whichever mix you prefer. If you’re into spicy, go for spicy, if you like mild, go for mild. Have fun with it. If it is a little more spicy than expected, serve with fresh cottage cheese, or yogurt with a little of dried cumin and coriander powder through it.

Nutty Fried Rice

 

2-4 persons

Rice: boiled. 500-750 gr. (3-4 big mugs)

Onion: 1 mid size. Chopped

Garlic: 1-2 cloves. Minced.

Coconut shavings: 2 tablesp.

Mustard seeds: 1 tablesp.

Peanuts: 4 tablesp. Chopped

Peanut butter: 2 tablesp. (Optional)

Milk: ¼ cup (only if you use the peanut butter)

Olive oil: 3-4 tablesp.

Parsley: 1 teasp. (dried. If fresh, 1 tablesp.)

Sugar: 1 teasp.

Salt: 1-2 teasp. (to taste)

Pepper: 2-4 turns. (2-4 knife points)

Curry mix: 1-2 tablesp.

Sweet chili sauce: 2 tablesp. (Optional)

Sweet soy sauce: 2 tablsp. (Optional)

Heat your olive oil in a wok or big skillet, with your mustard seeds in them. Mid heat, low if you’re afraid it gets too hot too fast. Add the garlic. Stir. Then your spices (curry mix) coconut shavings, and peanuts. Bake for a few minutes, until your mustard seeds start to pop (a little like popcorn). Add your onion. Keep stirring and increase the heat a little if you feel it is not baking properly. Wait until your onions are nice and yellow from the spices before you add, pepper, salt and sugar.

Toss your rice (rinsing it before use will make the grains less sticky) on top and start stirring it all together until it’s all equally yellow.

If you opted for the chili sauce or soy sauce, or both, now is the time to add it.

Same goes for the peanut butter and milk. Open up the center of your rice until you see the bottom. Drop in the peanut butter and milk and start stirring that center, gradually pulling in more and more rice until it is all equally dispersed.

Bake it all a little longer…small crusts make it even better…and then serve with vegetable(s) of choice.

Asia with a twist

Take your pick

Stir-fry for two.

You get home from work, you’re tired as a dog, and yet you want something to fill your stomach that won’t make you feel like you’re living on fast food. This is a really easy one that’ll see you through a meal with mostly left over veg that you find in your fridge (hopefully anyway). If you don’t have one or two of these ingredients, leave it out, or see if you can substitute it with something of a similar substance. I.e. you don’t have carrot, try some parsnip, or cauliflower, pumpkin, sweet potato…or if you’re very adventurous, red beet. (Careful with Broccoli, it has a very dominant taste. Same goes for Brussels sprouts.)

Opted for dried herbs again. It’s winter and my herb garden is more than struggling…It’s dead. *sigh* Need to get some new ones. Remember that if you use fresh ones, double, or triple the amount indicated below. All these veggie ingredients are fresh, if you don’t have them, aim for frozen and only in extreme emergencies resort to canned.

Sweet & Salty potato-veg stir fry

Potatoes: 6-8 small ones. Cubed to half an inch. Unpeeled

Onion: 1 small. Chopped

Leek: 3-4 inches. Chopped

Carrot: 1 small. Quartered and sliced

Bell Pepper: ¼. Chopped

Green beans: 4-6. Chopped

Zucchini: 3 inches. Chopped

White Cabbage: Thin strips. Handful

Olive oil: 3-4 tablesp.

Milk: ¼ mug

Peach jam: 1 Tablesp.

Sweet chili sauce: 1 teasp.

Oregano: ½ teasp.

Basil: ½ teasp.

Parsley: ½ teasp.

Italian mix: 1 pinch

Salt: ½ teasp. (to taste)

Cayenne pepper: 1-2 pinch (1-2 knife points)

Use a big skillet or wok. Heat the olive oil for about thirty seconds and throw in your chopped potatoes. The beauty of this recipe is that if you get the sequence right, you can basically cut your veggies above the pan, saving loads of time. Stir frequently and turn the fire to medium when you notice that your potatoes begin to crust a bit. Add onion and leek. Keep stirring. Add your herbs, salt and cayenne. When onions begin to become transparent a bit, add carrot slices. Make sure they’re thin. About three minutes on medium fire needs to pass before you add the sweet chili, milk, and the jam, keeping a steady stir going. If you don’t think the mix is baking properly turn the fire higher again. If you look at your veggie list, that is basically the sequence in which you should gradually stir the remainder of the veg through your potatoes, leaving the cabbage strips to last. Once your cabbage begins to turn soft, glassy almost, you’re done.

This recipe can be served as a full meal, or a side dish to noodles or rice. If you need to stretch it for more people, you can add half a kilo (2-3 mugs) of boiled lentils to the mix. Or serve just the stir fry with French bread, pita, naan or a meat of choice…cubed chicken filet will go well with this. Make sure to bake the chicken crispy in olive oil with pepper and salt and a pinch of rosemary. If anyone dares to make it with fish (baked in olive oil with some sage), I’d love to hear how that worked out.