One thing to note, before I get started on this, is that when we cook in this house, I make sure there are plenty of leftovers. That being said, when I cook my Fried Rice, we make quite a bit. Another thing to note is that I always find my recipes online and modify them to suit my needs. I’ll post them in a footnote kinda thing in the bottom.
Anyways, first things first, you boil your rice. I read up quite a bit on this process before I even started, why? Because some people wash their rice a few times, and want to boil it clear. I tested this, and didn’t like it. I wash them a bit once, but for the most part, I throw a whole back of rice into the pot, with two cups of water to every cup of rice, and then throw some butter in as well, after its absorbed the water, I package it up, and put it in the fridge until the next day. I don’t like the rice to be too sticky at this point, but sometimes it is.... Be sure to thaw some chicken in the fridge as well.After that, I use a recipe I found online. The fact is, I don’t like onions of any sort, so I cut out some stuff. One thing to note about my recipes, they are not set in stone. I will add and subtract stuff to my hearts delight as I work my food. My recipe goes thusly:
2 cups of rice
a quarter cup to half cup of shaved carrots (these are like the 1st secret ingredient...)
2 eggs (sometimes I increase this to three)
3 tbs Soy Sauce
4 to 6 tbs butter (most recipes call for oil, but I always go with low-fat butter)
2 cloves of garlic, (I usually sprinkle in my garlic powder)
Pinch of Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Gomasio (I go to Walmart and grab ‘Asian’ spices that have sugar, sea salt, seaweed, and sesame seeds in them, this is definitely the 2nd secret ingredient)
Chicken
A crazy little list, but its what I work with. I end up getting out my big skillet, which is massive. Using this recipe (yes I change it as I go) I at least double it, or triple it per cook time because of the amount of rice I have.
I put in the 4 tbs of butter, let it melt down until its liquid. Throw in the eggs and scramble them up really well. I tend to like my eggs almost burnt, at least with the texture not mushy, but its really hard to do with so much butter in there.
Anyways, once they are cooked through you throw in the rice, carrots, and garlic. Mix this like mad for a moment, making sure it is fully mixed, then you throw in the soy sauce. At this point, the original recipe calls for Saki, but I can’t get that where I am, so I am trying a wine or two just to try.
As you mix that in, start seasoning it with the salt, pepper, and ‘Asian spice.’Once this is seasoned right, I end up piling it onto a plate. I’ll be honest with you, the recipe I make, fills 3 of my big plates....
Now, you are not done yet.
This is the most important part. The chicken. Before I cook the rice, we take the raw chicken and cut it up into small chunks. Take this chicken, after you’ve cooked your rice, and throw it into the skillet without cleaning it out. I normally put in a bit more butter, soy sauce, and add in some spices, such as rosemary and the Asian spices, along with salt and pepper.
Be sure to cook the chicken through, which is always the fun part about chicken. Hopefully you’ve cut them into small enough chunks that they cook rapidly. I always take out a few of the bigger chunks and cut them open to make sure they aren’t pink. You’ll notice right away how tender the chunks are.
I normally drain the chicken in a colander. I’ll be honest with you, this chicken is the most tender, best tasting chick I have EVER had. It is melt in your mouth, OMG. Lisa likes to throw in some steaks after that, but those never come out as tender as we’d like.Since I end up making an entire bag of rice, this recipe ends up giving us leftovers for a couple of weeks. This rice makes a great side to ANY dish we make during those weeks. The fact is, this is a very easy recipe, especially when you consider how amazing the chicken comes out.
Footnote: Original recipe was found on Savory Reviews: Japanese Steakhouse Fried Rice.
