Leftovers #1 - Veggie Egg Fried Rice

Yesterday for lunch I made some egg fried rice. Trying to shake this cold you would think I would want a simple bowl of soup. Knowing that I had some left overs just fueled me even more to clear out the refrigerator and make something hot and tasty in about 15 to 20 minutes. It's important for this dish to use left over rice or day old rice... the older the better. Freshly cooked rice will become mushy. I made that mistake many years ago at my first attempts making this dish. Anytime I am cooking rice for a meal I always cook more for with the intention that I will be making fried rice further on in the week. For this dish you will need the following: 

Fresh Chopped Veggies - carrots, celery, broccoli, green onions, onions, bok choy, mushrooms, water chestnuts, peas, corn... essentially whatever you have on hand or whatever you prefer. *Reserve some of the green onions in a small bowl for later. 

Left over pre-cooked rice - about 2 cups (more depending on how many you are serving)

2 eggs

Sesame oil

Canola oil

Low sodium soy sauce

Dry sherry - Harveys Bristol Cream will do nicely!    

Step 1: Heat your pan or wok  over medium high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When the oil is heated add the veggies. This time I used 2 carrots peeled and chopped, 3 cups chopped bok choy, 2 chopped mushrooms, 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli and a handful of green onions. Sautée until veggies are cooked. When the veggies change colour slightly. They have gone darker, brighter or slightly transparent. You don't want to over cook your veggies for this dish. It's important to have some crunch. 

Step 2: Once the veggies are done, make a well in the centre of the pan with the  veggies all around the sides. Now this is when you are going to have to move fast... Crack open two eggs and scrabble the eggs mixing in the veggies. Making sure not to let the eggs stick to the bottom of the pan. You should get a sort of scrabbled egg veggie mixture. It should look like what is pictured here, above.    

Step 3: Add the pre-cooked day old rice. Drizzle some sesame oil and stir to coat the rice with the veggies and oil. Stir frequently. Letting everything heat through and making sure that it is not sticking too much to the bottom of the pan. Also at this point you may add whatever pre-cooked meat you may have on hand, like chicken or ham. Adding the meat at this point is good because you want the meat to be separate from the eggy veggie mixture. You don't want the eggs to stick to your meat.  

**The sauce. Now in a separate small bowl add about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of dry sherry and 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce and gently whisk everything together. You will have to adjust these amounts depending on how much fried rice you are making. You want ample flavour regardless.     

Step 4: Take the oil, sherry and soy sauce mixture (see Step 3) and pour it over the rice mixture in the pan. Making sure that the rice and eggy veggies are coated well with the sauce. Stir again to make sure nothing is sticking too much. Let everything heat for a few seconds longer, then remove from heat. 

Step 5: Once removed from heat add some freshly chopped green onions and serve. Or transfer into a serving dish and add the fresh green onions on top. Yum! 

This is a very quick and easy dish. The main thing is that the rice is pre-cooked. How many days in advance is up to you. The older the better. Chopping the veggies should not take long... you can even chopped them ahead of time. Which means cutting down on your prep time. Which makes this dish even quicker. About 10-15 minutes from star to finish. This by far is one of my go to dishes. Everything you ever want is in this dish and every time I make it, it changes slightly. - JW