Vegetable Fried Rice
serves 4-6
For those of you who have small “energetic” children, I doubt I need to explain that having two 3-foot tall firecrackers is like a cowboy trying to walk with 30-pound spurs on each leg... Which brings me to posting this very lovely dish.Read more about this recipe (and get the full story) at Steamy Kitchen.
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups cooked, day-old rice, grains separated
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (grated with microplane grater)
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 cup or more minced vegetables (red bell pepper, chives, fresh shitake, frozen peas/carrots, cabbage, extra firm tofu, etc.)
1 teaspoon + 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
salt & pepper to taste
prep: 10 minutes
total: 35 minutes
large skillet or wok
1. Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil on medium-high heat in large skillet or wok.
2. If you aren't using tofu, then skip this step: when the oil is hot, add tofu cubes and brown on all sides. Remove, set aside. (Tofu is browned first, removed and added in later so that the delicate cubes do not get crushed in the frying process.)
3. Add 2 tablespoons cooking oil and heat on medium. When oil is hot but not smoking , add ginger and garlic, stir fry for 15 seconds until fragrant. Turn heat to high and add vegetables in order of what takes longest to cook (heavier vegetables like carrots and peas first, peppers and mushrooms later, anything leafy last). Season with 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce and a pinch of sugar to bring out the flavors of the vegetables. Fry until the vegetables are 80% cooked through.
4. Add rice. Add remaining soy sauce, sesame oil, salt & pepper. Fry on high heat until the each rice grain is heated through. Add tofu cubes back in. Taste. Add a touch more soy if needed.
