When I was young, every time I hear my mom's orders to fry rice, I get heart palpitation. 

Cooking rice on its own was already complicated, frying rice was like the death of me. I just couldn't do it right! It becomes one soggy, oily mess and I have no clue why she keeps on torturing me with the never ending "Nina! Fry the left over rice". 

Fast forward to now, becoming a mom myself, to two beautiful boys (who eat like monsters)... I've grown to love frying rice. What's not to love? Rice don't go to waste. Left over food can easily be a part of breakfast's orchestra with no fuss. It has indeed become my ultimate go-to saving concoction for days when the fridge is packed with left-overs. 

Tip 1: Keep your left-over rice in the fridge. Cold rice, when fried does not absorb as much oil as when it's warm.
Tip 2: Use as many or as less garlic as you want.
Tip 3: Keep the pan or wok very hot and keep tossing. Don't go wandering about anywhere, you don't want to burn your rice.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper, beaten
5-8 cups of cooked rice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Garlic salt or plain salt
Left over meat, chicken or veggies

Serves a hungry family of 4

On a medium heat, put the oil in the pan. Add beaten egg until cooked. Take the egg off the pan and set it on a chopping board. Chop it to uneven bits, go karate kid on it, it's okay. Take that aggression out, the more bits, the merrier!

In the same pan with the same oil, saute garlic until it's aromatic. Add a few dashes of garlic salt (or salt). Don't go bananas with it, you can always add more later on if your rice needs more saltiness... you can never take it back though if it becomes way too salty at an early stage... so... rein your horses for the time being. 

Immediately add your cold rice and turn up the heat to high. Start tossing the rice and stay put! Do. Not. Leave. After 7-10 mins, you can lower the heat to medium or even moderately low. Add the chopped eggs and chopped left over meats. Add more salt or garlic salt if necessary. 

*Sometimes I add 1/4 cup oyster sauce diluted with 1/8 cup water for a change of colour and depth in taste. 

Enjoy your fried rice with sausage, egg sunny side up, bacon, fish, or any dish you fancy.

HOW EASY WAS THAT?!

FV21-08-1010

I grew up eating rice every single possible meal. Don't get me wrong, I never get tired of it. It's like chips, wedges, mashed, boiled potatoes in the West. It's a staple on everyone's table.

Some wonder how we still don't seem to be on the heavy side after all those rice. Beats me, I have no answer.

Back home it's normally Garlic Fried Rice but I've decided to try Asian Fried Rice this time. I fell in love with it when I first tasted an authentic one in Hong Kong. Although it's a meal by itself, the taste is so adaptable that even if you eat it with another dish, it complements it instead of competes with it.

This took me 15 minutes, and yes, I'm on the mark :)

INGREDIENTS
3-4 cups of left over rice
3/4 cups chicken stock
1 ham steak (cut into cubes)
1/2 cup frozen peas (mixed veggies if you prefer)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons canola oil or peanut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons Kikkoman soya sauce

Heat a teaspoon oil in a pan and cook scrambled eggs. Add peas and ham and fry for about 2 minutes then set aside.

Heat remaining oil into the pan or wok and add rice. Separate rice which are clamped together. Add chicken stock and let rice soak in it for a few seconds before stir frying.

Return the egg, veggie mixture and soy sauce. Stir fry until sauces and seasonings coats every morsel.

Serve on its own or with bacon, sausage, smoked fish or whichever left over food you feel like eating. Bon Appetit!

FV07-05-0910

I was supposed to face my fear and bake lasagna today. I really meant to but I ended up cooking another dish that I also thought was sooo complicated.

No worries, I will still face my fear in a few hours. I didn't manage earlier because it was too late when we came back from our ingredient hunting. Yup, almost 8 hours of walking, driving and searching unfamiliar supermarket isles (I only know Geant by heart).

So anywho, I had that nagging feeling I'll be wasting food today... and I hate that. A lot of people are starving so I have to try my best not to screw this one up. Hubby's waiting for dinner, kids are getting restless so I collected whatever remaining courage I had for the day and just cooked.

Let's just say, I surprised myself. It's the first time for me to make this and I think... I didn't do soooo bad! It was a hit in our house, hopefully they're not just feeding my ego! :D

Tip 1: If you don't like curry, by all means, use sweet chilli sauce (if you have kids, they prefer this over curry) and you will enjoy your meal just the same.
Tip 2: If you're lazy like me, cheat, find Curry Mix from the Japanese section of your supermarket.
Tip 3: Don't follow the directions in the curry mix packet, follow the steps below.

Japanese curry mix comes in different level: mild, medium and hot. Choose how you want your sauce

This took me 45 minutes, realistically that will be 30 minutes or less for you.

Chicken Katsu INGREDIENTS:
4 Chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
5 tablespoons flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
120g Panko breadcrumbs
Cooking Oil

Curry INGREDIENTS:
Japanese Curry Mix - Mild (choose spicy if you prefer it with a kick)
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, small cubes
1 potato, small cubes
400 ml water
2 tablespoons Cooking Oil

Serves 5

Sauce Direction:
In a medium size saucepan, saute chopped onion in oil. Immediately throw in carrots and potato cubes and stir around for 2 minutes.

Pour half the water and let it simmer. Dissolve the curry mix in the other half before combining both liquid. Lower the heat while you finish off Chicken Katsu.

Chicken Katsu Direction:
Sprinkle chicken with very little salt and pepper. Lightly coat chicken in flour, dip it into beaten eggs and thoroughly coat with Panko breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a large frying pan or deep fat fryer and fry chicken until cooked through, golden brown and crisps.

Take off excess oil by resting fried piece on kitchen towel for a minute before slicing it into pieces.

Hope you enjoy this new one!

Acoustic Chef, cookin’ one tune at a time!

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