Leftovers #69 ~ Korean Keema Fried Rice

 

It's a rarity we have leftover Korean Keema when having it for dinner. I could have possibly made more this time as I know how enjoyable this meal is. Rather than just eat the leftovers as is, which would have been perfectly fine, I decided to make a Korean Keema egg fried rice. I didn't use any additional sauce just a bit of oil. I heated a tablespoon of oil in a frypan over medium high heat, added the leftover keema meat and gently fried until heated through. I made a well in the centre of the frypan, pushing the meat to the sides of the frypan then adding two large eggs and lightly scrambling them before incorporating them into the meat mixture. I then added the leftover rice, breaking it up and stirring to mix everything together. The spicy sauce from the seasoned meat seemed to coat everything nicely so no additional sauce was needed and when serving add some freshly grated carrots and radishes or tangy pickled vegetables. Although keema is exceptionally tasty as is, this was an enjoyable leftover variation that was greatly appreciated and may be repeated. 

Leftovers #58 ~ Indian Fried Rice

Having leftover rice always means fried rice. It is quick and easy to make with the added bonus of using whatever you have on hand. I always seem to make Chinese Fried Rice, which I enjoy immensely however wanted to try and create an Indian Fried Rice that I felt equally the same. Never relying on one recipe alone I stumbled across a few and created this fried rice dish; a spicy and aromatic dinner that is richly flavourful as a side or on its own; and adjusting the amounts to accommodate how much leftover rice you have is simple with this recipe.   

Indian Fried Rice

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1 can chickpeas

2 carrots, peeled 

1 onion

3 to 4 cloves of garlic

1 red chilli or 1 dried red chili 

1/2 cup frozen peas 

1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon whole cumin seed

2 tablespoons Garam Masala

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 dried or fresh curry leaves

1 to 2 tablespoons oil

1 to 2 tablespoon vegetable stock

3 - 4 cups day or two old rice, jasmine or Basmati

fresh coriander

In a small bowl add all the spices, except the curry leaves, and salt and gently whisk together to combine. Place the curry leaves on top. Set aside.  

Pour the can of chickpeas into a mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly allowing the water to drain. 

In the meantime chop the carrots, onion and fresh chili, if using. Using a garlic press mince the cloves of garlic. 

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pan and allow to warm up over medium-high heat. Then add the chopped carrots and onion, minced garlic, chili and chickpeas. Let the veggies cook for about 5 minutes over the heat before adding the peas. This way the carrots and chickpeas will soften but still hold their shape and crunch. If you prefer to cook them all the way through then cook for a little bit longer.

When the veggies are cooked add the spice mixture with the curry leaves to the pan. The mixture will become quite dry; add the 1 to 2 tablespoon of oil and 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable stock and heat for a few minutes longer before you add the rice. 

Add the leftover rice. When the rice has been completely mixed with the vegetables and coated with the spices remove from heat and add the fresh chopped coriander, if using, and serve immediately. 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Ham Fried Rice

 

Leftover rice always means fried rice in our house. Pulling together ingredients and using spices on hand to create a satisfying meal using leftovers is always a winner. I have a very loose recipe, you can call it that, because every time I make this dish the flavour slightly changes, not only from the ingredients and spices I use and have in my pantry but just how heavy... or light handed I may be... how much of those ingredients get added, more or less soy sauce and sesame oil, more or less sherry or rice wine vinegar. Perhaps a little bit of this spice or a bit of that spice. So every fried-rice dish I make is unique in a sense that the common ingredients are there just the amounts change or get tweaked slightly. Regardless of what transpires in the kitchen and on the stove, it's flavourful and in the essence of the moment, creating that dish.   

Leftovers #55 ~ Ham & Egg Fried Rice

 

Leftover ham and rice beckons one dish... fried rice... ham and egg fried rice to be exact. Toss in some frozen peas, sliced mushrooms, chopped green onions and a homemade sauce and you have the tastiest dinner in a bowl. Serve with shredded carrots and matchstick slices of cucumber and store bought vegetable spring rolls; it is a full on leftover meal so flavourful everything else pales in comparison; with not many dishes to wash up.

Have a nice weekend and stay safe everyone! - JD   

Vegetarian Fried Rice

Even though I had to modify this recipe to suit my pantry, what the shop had on their shelf and what I had as leftovers; this is a great recipe for just that... using up leftovers whether it be rice, vegetables or meat. It also is a great way to offer flexibility to the week day meal. This delicious recipe is from Cyrus Todiwala, Chef of Café Spice Namasté and one of the Incredible Spice Men.  

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• Vegetarian Fried Rice - Cyrus Todiwala
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• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 free-range eggs, beaten
• 3 spring onions, sliced on an angle
• ¼ green pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• ¼ red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• ¼ yellow pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• ¼ orange pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• ½ carrot, peeled and shredded 
• 2–6 fine green beans, shredded
• 8–10 mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp frozen peas, defrosted
• 500g/1lb 2oz cold, cooked rice
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce or tamari, to taste
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil to smoking point in a large wok. Add the eggs and swirl with a ladle or spoon, break them up as they cook.

2. Add the spring onions and peppers and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the remaining vegetables, season with salt and pepper, add stir-fry for a couple of minutes until they are softened, but still have some bite.

3. Add rice and stir-fry for a few minutes until the rice is piping hot. Season with soy sauce and serve.

Notes: I used sesame oil instead of sunflower oil. I used a bag of mixed fresh vegetables however using frozen is fine. 

Have a  great weekend everyone and stay safe!  - JD 

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