Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Red and Brown Fried Rice with Chicken Franks


Initially, I typed "Easy" as the first word on the title of this post, but eventually changed my mind and deleted it.

To me, cooking a tasty fried rice is not at all easy. It's a gadzillion lightyears away from easy.

One of the biggest failures I had in the past was...not getting the rice right. I often ended up with fried rice which clumped together, their bond tighter than that of a stamp and an envelope, and mushier than most love declarations...

I've followed all the tips, including refrigerating the cooked rice overnight...and still, most of the time, I couldn't get it right.

Slowly, I've learnt more about fried rice and improved bit by bit.

New things I've learnt:
Greed isn't good
It is easier to handle a smaller batch than what I normally do...struggling to stir a heaping large batch of fried rice, sweat dripping into frying pan (it has similar effect to MSG/vinegar? Doesn't it?), ended up with a super sore right arm and unevenly flavored fried rice (A said tasty, B said salty, C said underseasoned)

Grain is great

Brown and red rice separate themselves well, like they're biggest enemies. The texture's wonderfully chewy, plus, they're healthy! I tried using them for fried rice...and my humbly simple chicken frank fried rice turned out fabulous!

Red and Brown Fried Rice with Chicken Franks

Recipe
(serves
- 1 cup of mixed rice (red and brown rice), cooked the night before, cooled down and refrigerate overnight
- 3 pieces of chicken franks or sausage of your choice, cut into 2-3 mm pieces
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 3 small red chilli, thinly sliced (reduce/add or remove seeds to adjust level of heat)
- soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, ketchup, pepper, olive oil

In a bit of hot oil, brown the chicken frank pieces, then set aside. Saute garlic, shallot and chilli until fragrant, add chicken franks back, add rice bit by bit, mixing while adding, season with soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, ketchup and pepper, serve hot.

The fried rice made quite a satisfying weekend lunch. Spicy, tasty, chewy...
If only I could get my lazy ass to fry two eggs....it would've been perfect!

9 comments:

  1. Hi Rita,
    Let me give u some tips as we Malay used to cook the rice everyday, to make fried rice, i usually used my leftover rice. before u cook the rice(i talking about normal white rice, not brasmathi or brown rice), u wash them then the water level must be a lil bit above ur first level of ur pointed finger (malay call it ruas jari). Then cooked as usual. Pls try to see the result.

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  2. We think you deserve more awards! We listed you on our list of top 7 kreativ bloggers we know. Ps. Kim fell asleep halfway through transformers.

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  3. Rita, it's me again. Just read your recipe of Red & brown Fried rice with chicken frank. I will certainly try it out. Thanks for the tips on the rice. I usually use left-over rice which stored in refrigerator for one night. But so far never try to use mixed of red & brown rice.
    Wina

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  4. Hi Rita, I have passed you the 'Kreative Award'. Do check my blog to see what it's all about. Thanks for the great recipes you've shared.

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  5. I think I've found a great indonesian chef here...:)

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  6. That combo looks so good, I'm going to try the recipe! You did a great job there!

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  7. I love the simple with minimal ingredients recipe. Doing something is never easy when you wanna perfect it hehe

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  8. thanks kenny

    che zaid, yes, i've tried this method :)

    rc and tracie moo, thanks for the award, i am so honored!

    wina, the wonderful result was a pleasant surprise for me too

    thanks for dropping by, tintin, welcome

    hi yaya, thanks, try it out and let me know how it goes...

    wiffy...100% AGREE! ^_^

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