Curried Fried Rice
Locale: China
Source: Tom Hull, improvised
Ingredients
- oil, as needed
- 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 zucchini, cut in half, sliced into 0.25-inch half-moons
- 2 eggs
- 0.5 onion, chopped (or 2 shallots)
- 3-4 strips thick bacon, chopped
- 1-1.5 c long grain rice, or 3.5 c cold cooked rice
- chicken stock
- mild curry powder
- garam masala
- Chinese five-spce powder
- salt
- black pepper
- 2 Chinese sausages, sliced thin, or ham
- scallion rings
- pine nuts or sliced almonds
- fried garlic chips
Steps
Cook rice: I use 1-1.5 c long grain rice (which I do not wash), and
2X water. Bring water to boil, add rice, cover, lower ht, and simmer
for 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, uncover, fluff, and cool completely. Heat a skillet, add oil, and sautee the bell pepper. Put aside. Same for the zucchini. Heat a skillet, add oil, and cook the eggs. Put aside. Heat a large skillet. Add the bacon and onion, and sautee until the
onion becomes transparent. You may or may not need to use some oil. Add the rice, and break up any clumps. Add salt, curry powder, and
any other spices. Splash some chicken stock in, and cover to let it
steam. Uncover and check it: the rice should absorb the liquid and/or
evaporate it. You may do this several times (kind of like cooking
risotto). Check salt, and add spices to taste. Fold in cooked bell pepper, zucchini, and egg. Fold in sausage or
other meat. Toss to combine, then add scallions, nuts, and garnishes.
Notes
This started as Barbara Tropp's Ham and Egg Fried Rice. My wife complains about fried rice coming out hard. She likes to recook hers with extra liquid, so I thought I'd anticipate that need, and evolved this very loose recipe. I've never gone through and carefully measured things, and I often improvise based on whatever I happen to have handy. The onion turns it more into a pilaf or biryani. You can add almost anything to this. I usually have bell pepper and/or zucchini on hand, so included them. Aside from the onion, everything that needs to be cooked is cooked separately, then added later, so once the rice is briefly fried and flavored, everything else is just added to mix it in and warm it up.
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