Monday, March 16, 2009

Pork Fried Rice

My favorite Asian food is fried rice. I love all the different dishes, textures, and flavors, but even with all those on the menu, my fave is always just plain old fried rice. I could never make it right at home because it always turned out mushy. I don't even want to remember my tofu fried rice experiment - yuck! I could never figure out the secret to good fried rice.

I came across an awesome blog called A Daily Obsession. It is written by a lady named Terri in Malaysia. The pictures and recipes are awesome! These words of wisdom forever ended my mushy fried rice conundrum:

"The secret lies a lot in control of the heat used in cooking this dish. I usually stir up a slightly charred veg (heat too high) or watery dish (heat too low)"


Finally! I made good fried rice! Thank you Terri! Yay!

Pork Fried Rice

Oil

2 handfuls leftover roast pork, diced
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup veggies, chopped
Soy sauce
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Heat a few TBS of oil in a large skillet or wok. Get the heat pretty high. Too low and it will turn out mushy, too high and it will char the veggies.

Add the pork, then brown rice, then veggies. I used a broccoli mixture from the freezer. I just warmed it up in the microwave for a minute to defrost it first. Of course, you could use fresh veggies, too. Pick out what you like - mushrooms, broccoli, green beans, snow peas, carrots, green peas, bell peppers, etc.

There should be some sizzling and steam. The steam is the extra liquid evaporating - so the dish won't be mushy - and it gives the fried rice a nice smokey flavor. Occasionally toss the rice in the wok, or use a rice paddle to mix in the skillet.

Season with several dashes of soy sauce. Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Of course, you could use fresh diced onion and garlic instead. Let it cook a bit so the liquid in the soy sauce evaporates and every thing is heated through.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Subscribe in a reader

3 comments:

terri@adailyobsession said...

way to go jess! wish i can come for dinner:D

Joanne said...

That looks so good!
Another tip is not to overcook the rice initially and if possible, refrigerate the cooked rice for a few hours or overnight. I'm not sure why its better, it just is.

Jess said...

Oh yes! Cold rice is the best. It makes a big difference.

I make a big batch of rice and freeze it in 1 cup portions. Then I defrost it in the microwave for 2 minutes before using it in the fried rice.