In this week’s post, I will write about fried rice. I can imagine that some of you sigh a little bored as you read this. Fried rice. Was that the best he could come up with? I know it may sound a bit boring. But this post is not just about the recipe. I will talk about something that is maybe even more important. How to minimize food waste.
I don’t know about you, but I almost always boil a little too much rice. There are always some leftovers. And those of you who have followed my blog probably know that I run a small crusade against food waste. It’s unethical, an awful disgrace, something that can only be classified as evil.
Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But I still think it’s bad. Something we all has to do something about. And one of the best ways to minimize food waste is to eat up leftovers. But it must taste good, and it must be fairly easy to prepare with various kind of foods that most of us have at home. Otherwise, the risk is quite high that the leftovers end up in the garbage.
That’s why fried rice is such a great dish. The recipe can be varied endlessly. When I searched my fridge, I only found a few types of food that could be used for this recipe. Carrot, leek, garlic, and eggs and of course, rice from yesterday’s dinner. Still, I managed to make a healthy and tasty lunch in less than 20 minutes.
One thing that makes a huge difference in this kind of dish is sesame oil. A few drops will give you that “authentic” taste that some other recipes lack. Besides, it can be used in a wide range of Asian dishes. So if you don’t have sesame oil at home, buy a bottle immediately.
Fried rice requires soy sauce of course. I have noticed how important it is to use a good quality soy sauce in a simple dish like this. A soy sauce of lower quality will provide a cheap flavor. So buy the best sauce you can afford.
I would like to point out that I am not claiming this to be a genuine recipe for fried rice. If there exist such a thing. Usually, recipes for fried rice include green peas, and sometimes even some kind of meat. The idea is that you uses the rice as a base, and then you take what you have. So read this recipe as a suggestion.
The optimal choice of onions should be spring onion. I had no spring onion, so instead, I chose to use the green part of a leek. I had no peas or meat either. No big deal. I still got a tasty lunch. And it didn’t take long to prepare. I love to spend a lot of time when I’m cooking. The problem is that I’m almost always short of time when it comes to lunch. Something I probably share with many others reading this blog.
So next time you have some leftover rice. Don’t throw it away. Make something delicious of it instead. And please share your cooking adventure with us.
Fried rice
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup boiled rice
- 3/4 cup leek sliced
- 1/2 cup carrot diced in small pieces or grated roughly.
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Fry the rice in vegetable oil on medium heat in a skillet or wok until it's pale brown. Stir the rice continuously.
- Add carrots and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and leek. Fry on low heat for 1 minute.
- Whisk egg with soy sauce and add to the skillet. Stir gently so that the egg is broken up into small pieces.
- Add sesame oil and stir gently for 1 minute. Serve immediately.