The Homemade Fried Rice Smackdown
When it comes to fried rice I am not a purist. In fact, Asian cooking intimidates me a bit and, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of rice in general. I would, however, like to be able to whip up a hot, fragrant, satisfying dish of fried rice now and again. For some reason, I especially like it on rainy days.
I recently posted this recipe from Mark Bittman's Minimalist column in The New York Times. My friend Stephanie got to the recipe before I did. She liked it, but only one kid out of three gave it the thumbs up. She noted that the crispy garlic and ginger looked appealing, but were not so tasty, especially for the kids.
With Stephanie's feedback in mind I made the dish. I tweaked a couple of things along the way: I added a couple of julienned carrots for color.
I was really careful about browning the garlic and ginger. Still, when I tasted it right out of the pan, I was overwhelmed by that acrid burnt-garlic flavor. Ick! I drained the garlic & ginger on a paper towel anyway and pressed on.
I fried 3 eggs in the ginger and garlic pan and begin frying the rice with the leek and carrot. Instead of putting the fried eggs on top of the finished dish, I broke them up and mixed them into the rice. I also added the sesame oil and soy sauce directly to the pan. Finally, I stirred the toasted garlic and ginger in with the rest of the ingredients.
The reaction: Eh.
We had to add a lot of soy sauce for flavor. The kids didn't love it. They ate it, but reluctantly. Rob added even more soy sauce than the girls and I did. We discovered that once the garlic sits for awhile the acrid flavor dissipates, but so does any discernible garlic flavor or aroma, leaving only the textural crunch.
While I was making Bittman's recipe, I remembered reading about fried rice in John Thorne's most recent book Mouth Wide Open. I couldn't resist. I made his recipe too. I fudged around on a couple things as usual. Thorne says a wok is essential, but I got rid of my wok ages ago, so I had to make-do with my frying pan. He also uses peanut oil and I just used canola oil. He uses day-old rice, I made mine an hour or two ahead of time. I also changed the proportions a bit. Here's my version:
Fragrant Pan-Fried Rice
2 c. cooked rice
2 TBS canola oil
2 scallions, cut in slivers
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 TBS fresh ginger, minced
2 TBS chopped prosciutto
2 eggs, beaten
a pinch of salt
toasted sesame oil
dry sherry
a little bacon fat or lard
soy sauce
red pepper flakes
Heat the bacon fat or lard in a medium skillet. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of sesame oil into the beaten eggs, mix. Pour the eggs into the hot skillet and cook quickly as you would an omelette, flipping once. Chop the egg up with a spatula and dump into a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add scallions, garlic, ginger, and prosciutto. Quickly sauté and allow the aromas to release.
Add the rice and stir, flipping the rice over in the pan constantly. Add a generous sprinkle of sherry and a few dashes of soy sauce. When these have absorbed, add red pepper flakes to your taste. Add the scrambled egg and flip the rice around a bit more. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding soy sauce, sesame oil, or red pepper as needed. Eat immediately.
The reaction: Yum.
The whole family devoured this rice without hesitation. It was delicate, aromatic, flavorful, and satisfying. No one needed to add extra soy sauce (there wasn't much added to begin with). It was very easy to prepare, literally ready in minutes.
These two recipes are so very similar. I love the fact that simply changing one or two things can so dramatically alter the character of a dish!
Do you have a favorite fried rice recipe? Share it with us!
