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Making Something New Today: Fried Rice

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RickZ:
Like I told yuse guys and gals, I love to eat, which means I have to cook.

I wanted something different today, and felt like experimenting a little, so I did.  Made something I've never made before.


2 1/2 cups cooked rice at room temperature
1-1 1/2 lb Cook's ham steak, trimmed of fat and bone, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup small diced carrots
3/4 cup small diced sweet red pepper
1/2 cup small diced onion
1/3 cup thin sliced scallions
2 TBS thin sliced hot pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 can bean sprouts, squeezed of water and lightly chopped
3/4 cup frozen peas (thawed)
1/2 cup peanuts (from the shell unsalted)
2 eggs
3 TBS Tamari soy sauce
1 TBS low sodium teriyaki sauce
1 TBS garlic chili paste
1 TBS hoi sin sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
Drizzle of spicy black bean paste oil
Peanut oil

I prepped all the veggies.

I first 'cooked' the ham in a non-stick skillet to get the water out and to give the cubes some color.  I drained and let rest.

I mixed the liquid ingredients together, except for the peanut oil, and let it sit.

I heated the wok and once smokin', I drizzled in some peanut oil and swirled to coat.

Stirring constantly:

I added the carrots and red peppers and cooked for a minute or two.

I then added the onions and the hot peppers and cooked for a minute or two.

I then added the garlic and the scallions and let cook until fragrant.

I then added the thawed peas and cooked for a minute or two.

I then added the ham, the peanuts, and the bean sprouts to get warm.

I then added the rice and mixed.

Once everything was hot, I added the sauce and mixed in to color all the rice.

In a separate skillet, I scrambled two eggs in a little peanut oil.  Once I cooked them fairly hard, I added them to the wok and mixed them in.


Then I ate.  And it was good.  Better than any damn Chinese take-out around here, and there are a lot of Chinese takeouts around here.

I'll think about cleanup later.  Much later.  All those damn mise en place bowls.  But you have to do that to have everything ready to go into the wok when it needs to go into the wok.  Timing is everything.

Pandora:
That's sounds good, Rick.  Nap time now?

LadyVirginia:
Yummy. I liked making fried rice.

Honesty, I prefer to cook at home than eat out.  My kids like it too.

Alphabet Soup:
Now I'm hungry again  ;)

I'm not much of a cook but I have tried Stir Fry and Pad Thai.

I mostly like eating it than preparing it  ;D

RickZ:

--- Quote from: Pandora on April 22, 2011, 12:18:22 PM ---That's sounds good, Rick.  Nap time now?

--- End quote ---

After all the shoveling I did, yeah, it was.

I have to say that there are certain pieces of kitchen equipment I have that I dearly love (in an esoteric not erotic way).  I'm sure with most guys, it's the grill, with that primal fire and burning meat thing going on.  But for me, one piece of equipment is my wok, my third one, and this one's the charm.  In college more moons ago than I'm willing to admit, I had a flimsy wok that basically was ruined after one use.  Then I was given another one, still flimsy, by someone who never used it.  It was better, but tike I said, way too flimsy to heat properly.  Then I got the baby I have now.  Thick and flat bottomed, with a lid.  Not only is it my stir fry pan, I also cook popcorn in it; there's plenty of room for the popping, and then I can toss the melted butter fairly easily.  But the secret to cook home-cooked Chinese stir-fry is a decent wok, and they aren't cheap.  They're not the most expensive item I've seen (like for example a good $300-600 roasting pan, but still $150-200 is not out of line.  But a good wok is one of those kitchen utensils that lasts forever, with just a little care.  One thing is handwashing, as it's too bulky for a dishwasher (not that I have a dishwasher).  But unless one buys a heavy bottomed wok, one simply can't get it hot enough without scorching.  When I cook in the wok, and usually it's stir frys not fried rice, the cooking time is literally less than 10 minutes.  But the prep can take well over a half an hour as you have to have all the ingredients prepared in separate bowls to add in the order they need to be added (onions never go in before peppers or carrots or celery, for example).  And peeling and mincing items like ginger is a little time consuming, but has to be done for authentic flavor.  (The one thing I may add the next time I do a fried rice is to add a little liquid smoke to the liquid mix, just to give the rice that smokiness that you get from the Chinese takeout variety.)  Also important when buying a heavy duty wok it so buy one bigger than you think you need.  When cooking in one, stirring is important, and one needs lots of room to do that properly.  Storage can be a problem, but usually one has so many pots and pans one never uses that getting rid of something without sacrificing cooking utility is not a problem.  Plus, once you get a good wok, you'll find you use it more than you think you might as the food that comes out of it is addicting AND healthy, which is quite the combo.

The other four items rounding out my top five cooking pots and pans include a cast iron skillet of some large size, whether it be a large skillet, dutch oven or a griddle.  But having cast iron cookware really helps with finished products.  I use my cast iron skillet to make the best sausage and peppers and onions as I can cook the peppers on low heat for a long time to bring out the sweetness before adding the onions.  I also like the cast iron skillet for my braised endive.  The other item is a 3-4 quart teflon sauce pan with a lid.  That is so versatile.  Oatmeal, rice, reheating soups, and all sorts of other uses.  While I have some regular sauce pots, I do not enjoy the cleanup which follows cooking something sticky like oatmeal or mac 'n cheese.  A fourth pot which I didn't think I needed but once I had one I simply couldn't imagine not having is a 14" skillet with a lid.  I found a heavy duty teflon one on sale at Macy's for $30 as it was mismatched cookware.  Then I went to a restaurant supply store and bought a 14" aluminum lid for $15; I wish it was see through, but them's the breaks -- and for $45 total, I'm not bitching.  That thing is useful for cooking so many things I never tried to make before.  And with a large family, can make quite the batch of food, be it pastas or rice dishes or chili beef/macaroni type dishes.  It really cooks and holds a lot of food.  The last item is a large ceramic lined cast iron dutch oven.  They are great for soups, stews and other stovetop and oven dishes; they aren't cheap, either, but, with care, will last more than a lifetime.

And if I had to name one kitchen cooking utensil above an beyond the normal spoon, slotted spoon, spatula and tongs would be a zester.  Again, it was a gift that I thought was cool, and that I thought I would use occasionally because I always hated using a box grater for zesting, not only in getting the zest out but in cleaning.  However, these new microplane zesters are the bomb and so easy to use.  You get all the zest without any sticking and cleanup is a snap.  Once you start adding citrus zests to food, you'll find that you can't stop.  The zest has so much flavor without any fat or calories.  Amazing stuff, that zest and something usually thrown away when one uses a lemon or a lime in a dish.

So much for that kitchen lecture.

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