Stir-Fried Rice
I’ve been told by a few that mine is the best, so I’ll share the recipe here. Total cooking and prep time, about an hour.
Indrediments:
You’ll need a large wok for this, and a separate pan for the tofu.
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 small red bell pepper
1 small yellow onion
6-8 button mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 brick extra firm tofu
3 eggs (leave out to keep it vegan)
4 cups of cooked long grain white rice (Follow the package directions. I’ll skip this part.)
Prep Talk
Drain the tofu well a couple of heavy plates and clean white clothes.
Combine the oils, sugar, and soy sauce in a small dish or cup and set to the side for later while the tofu is draining. It will settle, don’t worry about it.
Cut the pepper, onion, and mushrooms into very small pieces, no bigger than a quarter inch or so. Slice the tofu into small quarter inch cubes. Peel the garlic, but keep it whole.
Cooking it all up
In the wok, add half of the oil/soy/sugar mixture to a heated pan while whisking it. Once the oil is moderately hot, add the garlic cloves for about 30-60 seconds. Mash the garlic with a fork once soft, and immediately add the vegeatables and mushrooms. Cook these up just a bit (a few minutes) and keep stirring them in the process. Now is a good time to make sure your other pan is nice and hot.
Add the tofu to the hot skillet, dusting it with the cumin, and cook just until it begins to brown. About 7 minutes should do it. Once its a nice brown, you can remove from the heat and set to the side. Note: You can cook this in the same pan as the vegetables, but I like to keep my tofu solid, and this tends to help.
In the wok, add about a cup of the cooked rice, and the rest of the oil mixture, mixing everything together well with the veggies. Add the rest of the rice, and stir it all together, just until well mixed. Keep the heat on very high, and press the rice down into the pan. After 3 minutes or so, Scrape it all up from the bottom of the pan, and mix it all up again. Repeat about 5 times.
Once the rice gets a bit of a golden color, its time to add the eggs. Make a well in the center of your wok with a spatula, and break your three eggs right in the middle of your pan. Be prepared to scramble the eggs quickly, as your wok should still be very hot! It should take no more than 60 seconds to cook the eggs up, and you can then stir everything back together.
Add the tofu to the rice, and stir it in together gently, just long enough to warm the tofu. Voila. More of my non-traditional asian-inspired cooking for you to enjoy.
Ideas
I have used all kinds of other veggies with this, so feel free to use whatever you want. Just make sure don’t use too few or too many vegtables, or the texture will be off. Personal favorites to use are carrots (cook these a bit longer), bamboo shoots, and julienned portabella mushrooms.
I usually serve make this with a vegetable stir fry with the same veggies as above and Quorn Naked Chik’n, which you can start cooking right about when you add the rice, and have it all ready together. Some cumin, cayenne, and just a touch of teriaki sauce makes it interesting.
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