I’m very into noodles, as many of you know, but there’s a secret to all of this: my family is from southern China and Taiwan, where rice, not noodles, rule. I basically grew up on fried rice and I’ve passed on my love for this comfort dish to my children, who eat it at least once a week.
You can use white rice, brown rice, a mix, or something I like, steamed short-grain rice with quinoa. There are a couple of tricks to this dish — one is to use cold, leftover rice (ideally from a day or two before) and the second is squeezing some plain old American yellow mustard on it and mixing it in just before serving. It’s a trick my mother learned from a Chinese-American chef friend of hers, and a perfect example of how a traditional recipe can be improved with something totally foreign.
Fried Rice
2 cups cold, leftover steamed rice (ideally from the day or two before)
2-3 scallions or 1 leek, white and green parts finely minced
4 eggs
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen and defrosted green peas or 1 long broccoli stem diced
1/2 lb worth of diced ham, shrimp, smoked tofu
Salt, to taste
Black or white pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1-2 tablespoons American yellow mustard
Break eggs into bowl, beat, and add ¼ tsp salt.
Heat wok on high, add half the oil and wait for wok to heat for 1 minute. Add eggs and scramble until it sets. Remove from heat.
Clean wok, heat on high, add the rest of the oil and scallions. Add protein and stir until cooked. Add vegetables. Add salt and pepper. Add rice and mix thoroughly. Add eggs. Taste and add more salt and pepper. Just before removing from heat, squeeze a tablespoon or two of mustard on the rice and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.
