One of my favorite fellow bloggers Justa recently made a Ham Fried Rice with Pineapple (which looked terrific by the way) and it got me to thinking how good that would be. Everyone in my family loves fried rice and although I didn’t have any ham or pineapple on hand I was able to make do with a few other veggies to make a wonderful side dish. We’ve been under stormy clouds the last couple days so I knew I wouldn’t be able to cook out on the grill anytime soon. So on this rainy day I’m escaping to the kitchen to put together a meal of fried rice along with a sausage stir fry that I’ll be sharing later in the week.
I assembled my ingredients of Jasmine rice, soy sauce, roasted chile paste, mushrooms, sweet peas, carrots, green onion tops and a couple eggs. In a state of emergency I had to snip off some volunteer onions tops from my garden patch.
First get your rice on the stove and cook according to package directions. I had about 20 minutes for the rice so that gave me time to get the peas and carrots prepped. You can use frozen peas and carrots which might be easier but I had fresh carrots on hand that needed to be used. I peeled and chopped one whole carrot into small pieces which measured out to be about 1/3 cup. I dropped them into a small sauce pan and added another 1/3 cup of sweet peas, plus 1/3 cup water and brought to a boil. Once it starts to boil reduce the heat to low, cover and let steam 5 – 7 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
In the meantime, whisk 2 eggs together.
I have a different method for cooking the eggs. Instead of scrambling the eggs into the rice, I cook the eggs ahead of time in a large non-stick skillet. Pour them into the pan and swirl so that the eggs look crepe like. If you have a good pan the eggs will easily flip to cook the other side. Today they wanted to stick a little so I just let them cook and folded them over.
This is how they turn out. I folded them and will slice them into strips which will look pretty in the fried rice.
Set these aside to add later.
In the same pan you cooked the eggs, drizzle some olive oil and add 1/3 cup chopped mushrooms. Cook over medium heat just until the mushrooms have softened.
Add the cooked rice and peas and carrots to the pan.
Add 1/4 cup soy sauce and the secret ingredient, a tablespoon of roasted chile paste, which will make this fried rice so irresistible!
Time to add the sliced green onion and eggs to the pan.
Toss everything together and you’ve got one tasty fried rice.
Here’s a sneak peak at the other half of our meal. A Smoked Sausage Skillet Supper with Fig Dijon Sauce.
Fried Rice
3 cups Cooked Rice
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Sweet Peas
1/3 cup Carrots, cut into a small dice
1/3 cup Mushrooms, roughly chopped
4 Green Onion Tops, sliced
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Roasted Chile Paste, (I like the Thai Kitchen brand)
Olive Oil, for drizzling
Cook rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, add peas and carrots to a small saucepan, add 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, turn down the heat to medium low and simmer 5 – 7 minutes or until the carrots are soft. Drain water and set aside.
Whisk eggs together and pour into a large non-stick skillet. Cook the eggs 1 minute and flip to the other side to cook for an additional minute. Remove eggs from pan, and chop into small strips.
Drizzle olive oil in the same non-stick skillet and saute mushrooms just until they are soft. Add the cooked rice, peas and carrots, roasted chile paste and soy sauce. Stir the mixture together, add the green onion and egg and stir fry a minute more.
Serves 4 – 6
An Inspired Cook 