Ok, so fried rice...why make it when you can buy it from the local Chinese Restaurant?  Well, I know I won't convince all of you to try this, but sometimes you just have a craving for quick chinese and the restaurant down the street is closed.  I personally like to do it because it is such a versatile dish.  If you add some protein to it, suddenly you have the making of a full meal.  Honestly, I was looking to experiment and whipped this up tonight for dinner.  I always thought there was some secret to it.  However, I went to Kobe Steakhouse one night for dinner and watched the teppan chef make fried rice in a matter of minutes for the whole table and realized just how easy of a dish it could be.

Ok, so fried rice...why make it when you can buy it from the local Chinese Restaurant?  Well, I know I won't convince all of you to try this, but sometimes you just have a craving for quick chinese and the restaurant down the street is closed.  I personally like to do it because it is such a versatile dish.  If you add some protein to it, suddenly you have the making of a full meal.  Honestly, I was looking to experiment and whipped this up tonight for dinner.  I always thought there was some secret to it.  However, I went to Kobe Steakhouse one night for dinner and watched the teppan chef make fried rice in a matter of minutes for the whole table and realized just how easy of a dish it could be.

Ingredients

• 1 C jasmine rice (steamed) - Yields about 3 cups total
• 1/2 C cubed fresh or thawed carrots
• 2/3 C frozen peas (keep frozen)
• 2 large eggs
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil or sesame oil
• 1 shallot minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 green onion sliced up thinly
• 1/2 tsp. Gourmet Garden ginger spice blend
• 1/2 tsp. Gourmet Garden lemon grass herb blend
• 1/4 C low sodium soy sauce
• Fresh ground pepper to taste

Ok, so there really is no secret to fried rice.  Lets get right in to our steps.

1. As it says in the ingredients, prepare 1 cup of Jasmine rice.  For those folks who have trouble, rice is quite simple.  Boil ~1.5 cups of water to a FULL boil in a 2 Qt sauce pan, add 1 cup of jasmine rice.  Stir, cover, and lower temperature to low (about 1.5 on a 10 level stove).  Set a timer for about 10 minutes and DO NOT UNCOVER THE RICE!  Simply let it steam for 10 minutes...about this time, the condensation on the lid should be minimal.  Take the cover off and stir with a spatula.  Throw the cover back on and steam another few minutes.  This will make a nice dry rice and it won't all stick together.  When done...place in a bowl and set aside.
2. Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of olive oil or other vegetable oil to a 9" (preferably 12") skillet.  Add frozen peas, thawed or fresh carrots, shallot, garlic, green onion, lemon grass and ginger to a pan on medium high heat and saute for 3-5 minutes.  One thing about asian cooking, is that faster sometimes is better and hotter is sometimes better.  I rarely recommend cooking fast, as it leads to mistakes, but it will actually make it taste more authentic.  Once your veggies are golden brown, set aside in a bowl and add more oil to your pan.
3. By the way...you may have noticed I recommended a brand for ginger and lemon grass spice blends.  This is not a hard requirement...you are welcome to use fresh ginger if you prefer...but for the amount of flavor we are trying to add to the dish, don't go out of your way to find lemon grass if you can't.  Ginger is readily available usually near the peppers in the produce section.  You will usually find the spice / herb blends in the same section and they come in squeeze tubes.  If you can't find them, buy a little fresh ginger and mince it up.  It will taste just about the same.
4. Move your pan off to a cold burner and add two eggs.  As your eggs are most likely cold, not doing this over medium-high heat will prevent splattering of hot oil all over the place.  Start scrambling your eggs and get them back on medium heat until cooked through.   Make sure you break up the egg into small pieces and add these to the bowl when they are cooked through.
5. Now take your prepared rice and add to the skillet over medium heat.  Use a spatula to spread out the rice and constantly chop through the rice with the sharp side of the spatula to keep all the grains separate and fry slowly for 5 minutes.  This will mostly dry the rice and you do not want the rice to brown that much.  The soy sauce is what makes fried rice brown...not the frying :).
6. After 5 minutes of frying, add the egg and vegetables back into the pan and turn up the heat a little to about 6.  Mix the egg / vegetable mixture so it is evenly distributed through your rice and then season the rice with fresh ground black or white pepper.
7. Add soy sauce and continue to fold the rice in on itself until all of the rice is brown.
8. Cook an additional minute or so to make sure that the vegetables are heated through and then plate and serve.

As you can see, fried rice is quite simple.  You can take this basic recipe and cook up some beef, pork or chicken to take your rice from a side dish to a quick and easy meal.  Give it a whirl...once you make your own, you really won't want the chinese restaurant's dried out rice again!