The other day I made the NY Times' fried rice recipe, and I mentioned after doing so that I make my own version of fried rice quite a bit. I've since realised that I have never actually given my recipe for this dish. We have it fairly regularly and it's a great family meal and a great, easy thing to knock up after work. It's also (I think) infinitely nicer than the super-greasy fried rice dishes you're likely to get at the local Chinese takeaway.
For 2 people, you'll need between 1 1/2 and 2 cups of cold cooked rice - it must be cooked and it must have been done the day before. I prefer basmati, but whatever you have is fine. The cold aspect makes the grains separate properly. If you use freshly cooked rice it will turn into a giant fluffy/clumpy pile and that's not at all what we're looking for here.
You can make this as a vegetarian dish if you want, simply by only adding vege (and maybe some roast cashews for crunch and protein) but we typically have it with chicken. You need to marinate the chicken to achieve the best flavour so: chop 1 large (fresh range, organic or welfare approved) chicken breast into small slices/chunks. Mix in a small bowl with 1-2 cloves of garlic (depending on how anti-vampire you're feeling), about 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger, a good glug (that's about 2 tbsp for those who prefer precision in their cooking) sweet soy sauce*, 1 tbsp regular soy sauce, 1 tbsp sherry or Chinese cooking wine, 1 tsp sesame oil. I also sometimes add a chopped spring onion and/or some red chilli. Neither are essential, but both are nice. Now, I have used measurements there, but really, a marinade is a marinade and frankly I've never measured the making of one in my life and it always turns out well. If you want to measure do, but that takes some of the ease out of things - just eye-ball it and leave it in the hands of the cooking gods!
Then, chop a bunch of vege...whatever you've got. I always include more garlic, onion of some kind (spring, red, white) and then whatever vege is lurking around the bottom of the vege drawer in the fridge. Peppers work well, brocolli chopped small enough is good, green beans, carrot, corn (baby or regular) are all good. I usually add mushrooms but then have to pick them out of my lad's dish since he's anti-fungus. At a pinch you can make this successfully with nothing but some onion and frozen peas and corn. You want to chop the vege into small pieces - bite sized and I do mean small dainty bites. Makes it easier to shovel in one handed, but also speeds up the cooking process.
Beat an egg then fry into a thin omelette using a little bit of oil. Remove from pan and slice into shreds. Heat some more oil and stirfry vege till cooked but still crisp. Remove from pan. Heat a tiny bit more oil and add chicken (draining from marinade) - stirfry until browned on all sides (doesn't matter if it's not 100% cooked at this point - it'll finish as the rice warms through). Add the cold rice and stir through the chicken so it picks up all the flavoured bits on the bottom of your pan/wok. Return vege to pan with the leftover marinade and stirfry to combine. Turn heat down a bit and stir occasionally until rice is piping hot. Taste and add a glug or two more sweet and/or regular soy sauce. Throw egg strips back in and voila! You're done.
You can add what you like to this, which is one of its best features. Last night I had some mung beans and coriander lurking in the fridge, so they went in with the egg, but it really is just as tasty when there's very little left to eat. Filling, healthy, tasty - what more could you want from a week-night standby?
* Sweet soy sauce can seldom be bought in supermarkets in the UK, at least as far as I can find, so you'll have to go to your local Asian grocery. It's sometimes known as Kecap Manis. If you can't get it, just add a bit more normal soy and a healthy tbsp of brown sugar or honey. This is just as nice.
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