Pantry Fried Rice

So I just posted a list of all of the things you need for a well stocked kitchen. Next post will be about the essential equipment you need. From my well stocked kitchen, I can make a variety of things. I can make homemade chicken noodle soup. I can make a variety of pasta dishes, mac and cheese, steak au poivre (I happen to keep shallots on hand), but the easiest and most fun thing to make is fried rice in my wok.

If you don't have a wok, it's okay. The trick to making fried rice is cooking everything separately. It's always good to keep some rice already cooked in the fridge or freezer. If you can't make the rice ahead, I suggest that you use regular rice and not parboiled or instant rice. Cook the rice so that it's slightly under done. The extra moisture from the frozen peas, oils, and soy sauce can turn the rice to mush.

I fry my rice on high heat. It's important that you start your mis en place before you heat your pan or you'll end up burning your rice. For those that don't know, mis en place is just a fancy way of saying to prep your  meal. I like to save my sour cream or cream cheese containers and place all of my ingredients in those. You can just cut them and separate them on the your cutting board or a large plate as well.

Also you'll need to constantly keep stirring due to the high heat

What you'll need

3 cups of cooked rice (I prefer brown rice)
3 eggs, beaten
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I also use EVOO but peanut oil, canola oil, or corn oil will work too)
1 tablespoon dark toasted sesame seed oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (you can omit if you don't have this, or use peas only)
Soy sauce (taste as you go along)
Pepper (to taste)

Note: you can add whatever raw meat you want to this dish. You can also use leftover meat, just add at the end to warm up, so the meat doesn't overcook especially if you're using shrimp or scallops.

What to do

Heat the pan on medium-high heat. Add your tablespoon of vegetable oil. Let the oil heat up until it starts to lightly smoke. Add in your onions and stir for two minutes. Add a little bit of salt to draw the water out from the onion and soften it a bit. You can dump the onions out on a plate or if you have a wok, you can push the onions up on the side. If you have a large frying pan, push the onions to the area that has the least heat. You can even move a portion of your pan off the fire.

Next add the sesame seed oil to the pan. Let the oil heat for a minute. and add in the eggs. Scramble the eggs until they are soft set. Add your cooked rice, garlic, soy sauce, frozen peas and carrots, pepper and onions.   Stir together until the frozen vegetables are heated through. Make sure to taste as you go along to make sure that you have enough soy sauce.

If you're using meat, saute the meat first in the first in 1 tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper. When 80 percent cooked, pour onto a warm plate, and then continue with the recipe.