Frizzle Rizzle

There is a lot of great, authentic Chinese food to be had.  In Chicago we have a Chinatown bursting with fancy Shanghai palaces, grungy oriental food stores, and tiny little mom n pop dive restaurants, the latter being probably your best bet at eating what real Chinese people eat.  Instead of the sugary, syrupy fried chicken concoctions we Panda Expressers call Chinese, real Chinese cuisine is very veggie and rice-heavy--and, to speak very generally about a cuisine that spans one of the world's largest and most populated regions, fairly healthy as well.

I don't really know that much about Chinese food, to be perfectly honest, except what little I glean from magazines, TV and the good old web regarding food in general. I surmise that Chinese food is extremely regional,with variations to be found in every village.  I think the southern "sichuan" food is more spicy and obviously coastal areas are focused more on fish--basically, you eat what's around you.  And, surprise surprise, I don't really have much of a point, except that most of us probably are eating versions of Chinese food that a Chinese person wouldn't recognize as supposedly indigenous to his or her country of origin.   And perhaps I might do my food education well to try to eat more of the real and less of the Panda.

With all that nonsense said, I love Chinese food--all Asian food, almost.  And I'm getting better about trying more authentic, less Americanized things.  Like green papaya salad and massoman curries at thai restaurants instead of pad thai and pad see eiu.  Baby steps, I know--watching No Reservations shows that even these are paltry cousins to their authentic counterparts.  But sometimes the "challenging" foreign foods, while not as instantly likeable to our western palates, bring a deeper satisfaction...

But then there's fried rice. I love you, fried rice, because you are so deceptively simple and so heartily satisfying.

Not authentic, the way we think about it, although I'm perfectly willing to accept that home cooks everywhere find ingenious uses for leftovers, a tradition I appropriate all the time.  If you have extra rice on hand (day-old or older rice works best) there are far worse ways to use it up than this one.  It's simple, satisfying, and surprisingly healthy, if you go easy on the oil.  A "recipe", if you could call it that, follows.

Used up some of last week's CSA garlic and zucchini, and a few old store-bought mushrooms--waste not.  Brought in a portion of rice for today's happy monday lunch, along with some CSA cherry tomatoes, carrots and green peppers.  Happy tummy.


Easy Fried Rice

2 cups (more or less is fine!) cooked leftover rice (if not day-old, at least thoroughly cooled)
1-2 Tbsp vegetable/canola oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced2 cups or so diced veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, peas, carrots, celery, peppers, spinach, you name it)
1/2 cup chopped meat (ham, chicken, sausage, etc) OPTIONAL
1-3 eggs
1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp garlic chile paste
1-2 Tbsp hoisin, terriyaki, oyster sauce, or whatever else you have that you think would add good flavor.  EXPERIMENT!!!

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat until almost smoking.  Add onions and veggies; season.  After a few minutes, throw in garlic.

When veggies start to soften (3 minutes), make a well in the center of the pot.  Crack eggs into the well and stir them around until cooked, about 1 minute. Add meat and toss until warmed through, another minute.

Add rice and seasonings, and stir well.  Let rice "fry" and heat up for another 2 minutes or so.  Then--done!

Could it be any easier?  And so much better than greasy, heavy chinese restaurant fried rice too.