This week I learned to make fried rice! You are also in for a treat, because at the end of this blogpost, I will share the recipe I came up with!!
Each day this week, I practiced making fried rice. By day four, I came up with a great recipe, which is the one I will share with you at the end of this post.
Not Your Uncle Benjamin’s
I also learned a new way to cook rice in this lesson–coat the dry rice with melted butter, add water to boil the rice like you would for pasta, then drain off the excess water when the rice reaches your desired texture. This cooking method was new to me, but I was pleased with the texture and flavor of the rice.
Along with the rice
I chopped some vegetables, including bell peppers, mushrooms, hot peppers, fresh ginger, garlic cloves, and green onion. I sauteed these vegetables, added the cooked rice and some blanched peas, then finished it off with select sauces and an interesting oil for flavoring.
The Verdict
My family really enjoyed my practices. I brought my final recipe to the local community potluck, and all the comments I got on it were great!!
You can always change things, like amounts of something to make it smaller, or add something to it, such as pieces of chicken or seafood or something like that. I did try chicken, which was really nice, but here is the basic recipe I came up with. Let me know if you make it, or what you would add or pair with it, if you were to make it!
My Fried Rice Recipe!!!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ – 2 cups white rice, uncooked
- About 4 Tbsp butter, give or take
- Water to cover rice
- 1 ½ to 2 Cups chopped bell peppers
- 3-4 mushrooms, chopped small (pea- to grape-sized)
- 1 clove of garlic, diced
- 1 small nub of ginger, grated
- 1 to 2 fresh hot peppers of your choice (I used thai hot peppers)
- 1 fresh green onion
- 1 Cup fresh or frozen peas, blanched, or slightly boiled
- 1 to 1 ½ Tbsp fish sauce (could substitute tamari or soy sauce in smaller quantities)
- 1 ½ Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking the rice
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the dry, uncooked rice to the melted butter, and stir to coat. Once coated, cover the rice with water, and boil it like you would pasta. Try a bite after a few minutes to check the texture. Stop cooking when your desired texture is reached and drain off any excess water. Set aside the rice to cool.
Cooking the peas
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then add your peas. If using fresh, the peas may need to be in there for a little while. I used frozen, and it took about three minutes before draining them. Drain and set aside to cool a bit.
Cooking the other vegetables
Heat a large skillet on medium heat, and add the vegetable oil. Cook down the mushrooms for about five minutes or so. Add the garlic and ginger to infuse the remaining vegetable oil, cooking about another five minutes. Add in the bell peppers, hot peppers, and green onion, and cook until the peppers have just begun to brown.
Making the final product
Turn down the heat on the vegetables and mix in the rice and the peas. Stir together with the fish sauce and the toasted sesame oil. Add more sauce or salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
This was my first original recipe, and at first I was kinda nervous to try this. I tweaked it through trying and adapting other methods. There’s no way I could have done this a few months ago. Adapting recipes is a great skill, and others should definitely try doing it too! Let me know if you try this recipe, and what you think!