Veggie Fried Rice

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A simple, fresh, and easy side dish that I often use as the main meal.

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: fried rice, veggie fried rice

Servings:

Calories: 447kcal

Author: Patty

Ingredients

White Rice

3 C Cooked White long-grained Rice 1C uncooked white rice, makes ~3C cooked
4 C Water Amount depends upon size of pot

Veggies

2 Carrots Chopped into small cubes
3 Stalks Celery Chopped into small cubes, include any leaves
1/2 Onion Diced, I prefer purple onions for color
1 Scallion Sliced, green and white parts
6 Shitakke Mushrooms Sliced
1 Clove Garlic Minced
1/2 C Peas Keep frozen until ready to cook
2 Large eggs Whisked, cooked as omlett, then chopped
1 t White Pepper
4 bundles Bok Choy sliced lengthwise and into thirds

Combine Rice and Veggies

2 T Olive Oil
1/2 Lemon juice I use Meyer lemons for sweet taste
2 T Fish sauce
3 T Soy sauce
15 grams Sichuan Hodo Tofu This is one pack, flavored
2 t Chinese five spice

Instructions

Mise en Place

The key to a good fried rice is to have everything prepared before you start cooking. Each ingredient should be seperated since they are added, one at a time, into the wok. This is a fast, very hot frying technique.
Once the flame is activated under the wok, and the oil is hot, it is a matter of adding the ingredients at the approptiate time, all the while keeping the food mixing so nothing is burnt.

Cook White Rice

Rinse 1C long grained white rice in a colander under running water, until it no longer sheds starch (or the water is no longer cloudy). Then let the rice sit in water for ~10 minutes, swishing occastionally with your fingers.
Place the washed rice into a pot with water about an inch above the rice, add a lid and turn on the water to boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer.
Keep an eye out, you are looking for the typical pocked-mark rice to know it is done, and once you see that turn off the heat but keep the lid on. Keep the rice in the pot while doing other cooking.

Veggie Prep

Chop the carrot, celery, and mushrooms into similar sized, small, portions. Keep each in its own bowl since the veggies will be added at different times.
Dice the onion and garlic. Chop the scallion (white and green portions). Set all aside for cooking.
Wash the Bok Choy well, then slice leaves once lengthwise, then chop into thirds (or fourths if long). I want them easy to get into ones mouth.
Measure out the frozen peas.
Scramble 2 eggs in a bowl and set aside.
Prep 1t of freshly ground pepper and lemon juice. Get the 5 spice powder and teaspoon ready.

Making the Dish

Add oil to a heated wok. At this point do not leave the wok, have all ingredients at hand, a wooden spatula and start adding and mixing. Keep the food moving around so as not to burn, you can jiggle the wok, flip its contents in the air, or use a spatula to keep the contents moving.
Add the onion and garlic and mix until aromatic. Do not let either burn, you want them soft, not deep fried. Once you can smell them and they are moving toward being translucent, scapte them to one side.
Add the whisked egg and make all the ingredients into an omelet quickly. Then break it up while cooking so it is mixed as chunks with the onions and garlic, keeping the egg in bite sized chunks.
Add carrots and give them time to get soft a bit before adding other ingredients. So cook ~2-3 minutes.
Add mushrooms and mix well. Then add celery and sprinkle in the pepper and 5 spice. Mix well.
Then add the rice and mix well. Pour in the oyster and tamari sauce. Mix so all the rice has a brownish color. (If you want it browner use more tamari, or add a bit of dark soy sauce.)
Add peas and tofu toward the end as niether need to cook, just warm up.
Then mix and taste before serving. Add more sauce or pepper if needed. Do not add salt, the sauces have a lot in them. If I want this dish with a bit of heat i will add some Sriracha sauce.

Notes

For a quick, and simple hot dish this works well and reheats wonderfully.

Other Veggies I like to add: You can also mix up what you want to add, for example, you can use corn, edamame,cabbage, kale instead of bok choy. I like adding 1/2C chopped broccoli stems, or will add 1/2C chopped cauliflower.

Adding Meat: To my taste, not all meats go with this dish, for instance lamb, fish, duck, goat, wild game, or turkey. But you can add prepped shrimp (large or small), small cut beef or pork. You can also add chicken, and I think chicken thighs are best as they are flavorful and tend to retain juiciness.

One thing i do not use is any ground meat. Just chop the meats small and quickly cook in a skillet before adding to the fried rice or you can blanch them. If you do not want to precook the meat, cut them into smallish chunks and add the meat to the wok right after the garlic and onions are added, this way there is time for them to cook well before you add the other ingredients.

Weight Maint: The way to lower the calories, since rice is nothing but carbs, is to add more veggies to the dish so that it makes more servings.

Source: The preparation techniqus I use come from watching Youtube Chinese Chef John

Nutrition