Chinese takeout is AWESOME. But this version of chicken fried rice lets you control the amount of sodium and grease -- and you can cook it in less time than you think.
Ingredients
12 oz. of pre-cooked rice, brown or white (a cup and a half, cooked)
2 cups chopped or shredded chicken (pre-cooked)
1/4 cup minced onion or 1 minced shallot
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup chopped carrots
3/4 cup peas or chopped green beans
2 eggs
Soy sauce or a gluten-free substitute
Salt and pepper
Oil
Preparing
A few tips on the prep. Save yourself oodles of time by buying pre-cooked chicken breasts or a cooked rotisserie chicken. Or roast a whole chicken ahead of time for multiple recipes (I have a spatchcocked chicken recipe on this site). This recipe will use two chicken breasts. Also, drastically cut rice-making time by using a microwave packet of rice -- I like the freezer-to-microwave variety, though they come in 10 ounce packages (still works for this recipe).
Cooking
- Heat about a Tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, green veggies, onion and garlic, then saute until the onion is translucent and the garlic is browned. The carrots and the peas/beans should be heated through and tender.
- Scramble two eggs in a bowl.
- Move the ingredients to the sides of the skillet, and pour another Tablespoon of oil into the center of the pan.
- Pour the eggs into the center of your pan.
- Stir and cook them like you would scrambled eggs, until they start to get golden-brown.
- Thoroughly mix your eggs and veggies together in the pan.
- Add your cooked rice and cooked chicken, stirring and mixing until heated through.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in 1/4 cup soy sauce and taste -- add more if you wish.
Serving
Chopped green onions will make a nice garnish. This recipe will serve 2-3 as a main dish. It also makes a stellar side dish with potstickers, chicken wings, etc.
A Little Backstory:
Years ago, I went to a fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. One of the most prolific fortune cookie makers in the world, in fact -- you've probably cracked open one of their treats with your Chinese buffet or takeout. I guess I expected a Willy Wonka factory with rows of ovens and tubes and conveyor belts? Our directions were shady at best. "Take a quick left by the fish market with the broken sign and ask for the Crooked Man in Green" type of instructions. We found the unmarked entrance in a narrow back alley -- and a tiny, friendly voice inside encouraged us to please come in.
The place was no bigger than my 5 x 7 balcony. More of a closet than a factory. The space had no wiggle room, because of two ancient machines -- spluttering out liquid dough onto hot circular molds, then spinning them through a small opening in the metal contraption. Malleable little cookie discs came out the other side, where two Asian women (their ages combined were probably 190), deftly folded them into the perfect forms we recognize, and popped a paper fortune into the crease. Not sure what was more breathtaking -- the skill of their fingers, or the claustrophobic heat of the workspace.
That was maybe 20 years ago? I've never again looked at a fortune cookie the same.
Comments