Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: My tiny kitchen

A plate of Yeung Chow Fried Rice with the classic ingredients: BBQ pork, shrimp, peas and egg. There is so much ingredient that I can hardly see the rice.

One of the best ways to understand someone is by watching how they do a task, and I always learn a lot about someone when I watch them cook. Recipes are often written with room for imagination, and it’s rare to find two persons interpret a recipe in exactly the same way. Fried rice is one of those recipes that can be easily changed to suit individual preferences, and I have noticed people who are alike tend to cook fried rice in a similar way.

My brother and I both love cooking fried rice. He loves salmon and one day he created a delicious fried rice using salmon. He used so much salmon in the fried rice that even he laughed and said “I’m making fried salmon, not fried rice.”. We both like things in abundant; we are the type of people who like a lot of fillings in a sandwich and we refuse to eat sandwiches with “empty corners” – when the four corners have little or almost no filling.

Just as we thought everybody should be like us, liking fried rice with a lot of ingredients, we met a friend who is the opposite. When he tried my sandwiche, he took out the extra ham and cheese. When he tried my fried rice, he picked out the extra shrimps, BBQ pork and peas. He likes to keep things simple in life. He’s the type of guy who is happy with a TV at home and never considers building a home theater. He is a die-hard believer of “less is more”.

It’s funny how our personalities make who we are. When I was small, I always thought what I like is what everyone likes. After all, who doesn’t like fried rice that has lots of things in it? One of the best things I like about cooking, which might also explain why I’m also so crazy about it, is to understand different tastes and create dishes that satisfy different tastes. Having said that though, I still think my friend is somewhat strange.

To make my loaded version of Yeung Chow fried rice, you will need:

- 1 1/2 cup of diced BBQ pork
- 1 1/2 cup of cooked small shrimps
- 1 cup of green peas
- 2 eggs
- 4 bowls of cooked rice (to see how rice should be prepared, read Portebella mushroom fried rice)
- 1/2 cup of diced green onion
- Soy sauce
- Freshly ground pepper

In a non stick pan over high heat, stir fry BBQ pork for a minute.

Add in shrimp and stir fry quickly.

Add in green peas and freshly ground pepper, stir fry for a minute. Put all ingredients into a bowl

Put 2 tbsp of oil in the pan. Put 2 bowls of rice into the pan. Using a spatula, gently loosen up the rice. Turn the heat to medium and fry the rice until each grain is separated. Turn the heat to high and crack an egg in the middle of the rice. Very quickly, scramble the egg and mix it into the rice. Stir fry the rice until the egg has been cooked, about 1 minute. Put 3 tbsp of soy sauce in the middle of the rice and mix the soy sauce into the rice.

Put half of the shrimps, BBQ pork and peas into the rice. Stir fry until the ingredients and rice are mixed well together. Turn off the heat when done and mix in half of the green onion.

Repeat with the second batch and you are done.

How do you like your fried rice to be made?

Location: My tiny kitchen

Besides the portobella mushroom fried rice, this fried rice is another non-traditional fried rice that I thought of. Because corned beef tends to be fatty, no oil is needed while pan frying the rice.

This recipe makes 6 servings and it needs one can of regular-sized corned beef.

I usually don’t use this brand but I discovered it recently and I figure it’s worth a try since it’s from New Zealand.

I wasn’t disappointed. I can see whole beef pieces despite it’s canned beef. The meat the brand that I usually use is shredded. I like this brand better and I stocked up 2 more cans right afterwards

Dice half of an onion.

In a non-stick pan, stir fry the corned beef. The beef gives off a lot of fat and therefore you don’t need to put any oil into the pan.
Put in a good amount of freshly ground pepper.
Stir fry the beef until all its juice is reduced.

Put in the onion and stir fry the beef and onion together until the onion sweats.

Julienne half of a cabbage.

Have 4 bowls of cooked rice ready.

Take the beef out of the pan.
Put in half of the rice and pan fry it over medium heat until it’s slightly broken apart.
Put in half of the beef and onion.
Put in 1 and 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce and stir fry until the beef and onion are fully incorporated into the rice.

Throw in the julienned cabbage and mix well.
Repeat with the second batch.

This is my corned beef and cabbage fried rice; I was inspired to create this fried rice while I watched someone preparing corned beef hash on TV. The fat from the corned beef makes the rice tastes yummy, while the cabbage gives the dish a fresh taste.

Location: My tiny kitchen

There was a time in my life that I made fried rice very often. I was in love with it. It was the best comfort food for me. I started making the “traditional” fried rice such as Yeung Chow fried rice and salted fish and chicken fried rice, then gradually, I created my own.

This is one of the fried rice dishes that I created. Some of the ingredients used are not what you would expect to find in Chinese fried rice. This dish has a little fusion component, and I love this aspect of the dish.

What I love more is that recently I found out my little brother also likes to cook. Like me, he also created his own version of fried rice. What makes me smile is that although we have never cooked together, nor tried out each other’s fried rice, we cook very similarly. He likes to put a lot of ingredients into his fried rice, to the point that you no longer see any white speck. He likes to fry minced garlic with the rice and never fry the garlic alone, to prevent it from getting burned. We are very similar in these ways.

This is for you, my LB.

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This recipe makes a lot of fried rice. I figure since I have to go through all the preparation of cutting, chopping, mincing, dicing, then why not make more of it?

I have cooked almost 2 cups of rice. It’s important to choose the right rice to fry. Rice that are too startchy, such as arborio rice, are not good for frying as they will stick together and you will end up with rice balls. I always use jamine rice and I cook the rice before hand. I let the rice cool down complete so that the rice is dry and easy to fry.

Take one pound of ground pork and put in:
- 1 tbsp of onion powder
- 1 tbsp of brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp of salt
- 2 tbsp of Japanese cooking wine
- fresh groud pepper
- A few drops of sesame oil
Mix all seasoning into the pork and set aside.

The key ingredient in this dish is the portobella mushroom ragout. To make the ragout, you will need a lot of garlic. In case you haven’t gotten the hint, I’m a garlic freak.

Mince 8 big cloves of garlic. After they have been minced, separate them into two piles.

Wash 4 big portobella mushrooms. I know how the pros all tell you not to wash any mushroom and only clean them with a soft brush. Since I haven’t reached the pro level yet and I’m germ/dirt conscious, I always give my mushrooms a good rinse.

Cut the mushrooms into thin slices.

Cut the slices and turn the mushrooms into a mince.

In a non-stick pan, put in 2 tbsp of butter.
Put in 1 tbsp of olive oil.
Put in the minced mushrooms.
Put in one pile of minced garlic.

As soon as the muchrooms reache the pan, they will suck up all the oli.
Grind in fresh black pepper.
Put in 1 tsp of salt.
To cook a very good mushroom ragout, you have to let all the mushroom juice reduced. The mushrooms give off a lot of juice during cooking and once all the juice have evaporated, the muchroom flavour becomes super-concentrated.

When all the juice is gone, put in 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar.

This is the portobella mushroom ragout. It is aromatic, flavourful and it carries a hint of butter. You can serve it as a side dish with chicken or fish.

Once the mushrooms have been cooked, their size become much smaller.

Finely slice 4 stalks of green onion.

In a non-stick pan, put in the minced pork. Sautee it until it is fully cooked. Sautee it with a spatula to make sure the meat is broekn apart.

In a non-stick pan, put in 1tbsp of olive oil.
Put in half of the rice.
Once the rice is hot, put in half of the left-over minced garlic.
Mix the garlic into the rice.
Put in a few drops of sesame oil.
Put in 1 tbsp of soy sauce.
Turn the heat to medium, fry the rice until there is no big lump of rice stuck together.

Turn the heat to high.
Pour in half of the ingredients.
Thoroughly incorporate the ingredients into the rice.

When all ingredients have been incorporated, put in half of the green onion.
Mix the green onion into the rice and now you are done.
Pour the rice into a large bowl.

Now repeat with the second batch.

The portobella mushroom is the star ingredient; it adds a very deep richness to the rice.