Tag Archives: rice

  • Fried Rice – Chinese Comfort Food

    Good food doesn’t have to be complicated. This recipe is a case in point. Fried rice couldn’t be easier or quicker to make yet it tastes simply wonderful. And it makes you feel warm and loved in the way that only the best comfort food does.

    I like serving fried rice with roasted soy sauce chicken and a plate of steamed Chinese greens but I’ve also cooked it solo for a quick after work supper. And it still hits the spot, especially as I serve it with Indian brinjal (eggplant chutney) on the side. This may sound odd but once you’ve tried it, you’ll never look back; my German husband is now addicted to the combination.

    This recipe is my version of  my mother’s dish. I cooked this once when my friend Adrian came over for dinner. He took one bite and said, “this is your mum’s fried rice.” He would have last eaten her rice at least 15 years so it must have made quite an impression on him. That’s how powerful a legacy the food we cook is.

    INGREDIENTS
    ½ kg rice, cooked earlier and cooled. You can cook the rice the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight to make things simple.
    1 large onion, diced
    1/2 bunch spring onions, washed and diced
    3 eggs, beaten, mixed with a dash of milk
    6 rashers bacon, diced
    ½ large bag mixed diced vegetables (peas, carrots, corn) from the freezer
    2 teaspoons light soy sauce
    Dark soy sauce
    2 teaspoons sesame oil
    White pepper

    METHOD
    Heat a large fry pan or work and add oil. Slide in the beaten egg mixture and cook for a minute or two until partly set. Turn over carefully and cook the other side. Once it’s cooked through, remove from pan, slice into small squares and set aside.

    Add a dash more vegetable oil in wok and fry onion over low heat until soft. Add bacon and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring. Once bacon is browning, turn heat up to high and add frozen vegetables. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes.

    Add cooked rice, breaking it up with wooden spoon as you go. Continue stirring for a few minutes until the rice starts to form a brown crust in places. Season with light soy sauce and a dash of dark soy sauce. Add a little soy sauce to start with and taste before you add more. Sprinkle with white pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly so rice is evenly coated and coloured.

    Add reserved omelette pieces and chopped spring onion. Stir through and let warm through for one minute. Turn off heat then add a few shakes of sesame oil. Stir to combine.

    Serve in deep, generous bowls.

  • Hawker Food Hit List

    My father was born in Penang, Malaysia, and his family later moved to Kuala Lumpur. Until I moved overseas, I used to visit Malaysia once a year with my family and food was always a major feature of these trips.

    My Grandmother, my Popo, is an amazing cook. Her version of Asam Laksa (the sour, fish-based noodle soup) is famous amongst our friends, while her fried chicken and congee (thick with shredded chicken, fried onions and anchovies, roasted peanuts and white pepper) take ostensibly simple dishes and turn them into works of art.

    When we’re not eating at Popo’s house, we’re out and about trying hawker stores for the best of Malaysian street food. It’s cheap, plentiful and incredibly tasty. We have our favourite eating places, and visit them each time, smiling when we see the same old familiar hawkers we saw the year before. Many of them specialise in only one dish and that is all they make, day after day and year after year. They’re the ultimate food specialists. You have to admire that dedication to quality and consistency.

    Since we’ve had kids I’ve only been to Malaysia once, when my daughter had just started eating solids. We’re going again in a few weeks and I can’t wait to introduce my kids to Malaysia food. My daughter is now almost 5 years old, old enough to remember this trip, and my 18 month old son, robust enough for a week of eating all types of strange and wonderful food.

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