Fried Rice

I love a great fried rice and I have yet to taste a delicious fried rice like my grandma used to make. Fried rice always makes me think of my grams and the numerous times I watched her make it. She would use an old wok that had years and years of seasoning cooked into it. The first thing she'd do is fry up chopped bacon. When the bacon was done, she'd scoop it out and place it on paper towels. She'd pour the bacon fat into a glass bowl and reserve it for frying up the rice. With the grease that was left in the wok, she'd scramble up some eggs and set it aside when done. Then came a generous amount of that bacon fat and close to half a stick of butter. She'd heat it up and then throw in the cooked rice and sprinkle some soy sauce over the rice. When the rice was crisp and ready, she'd add the bacon, eggs, and some corn or other veggies and mix it all in. Her rice was flavorful and had the perfect fried rice texture which is so hard to achieve. It was THE BEST! I don't make fried rice with all that bacon fat and butter but it was sooooooo good....... 

Because I had leftover filling from making won tons, I used that in my fried rice. My version of fried rice is definitely not like my grams' but it turned out pretty good. Son #2 with food allergies tried fried rice for the first time! He can never order it when we go out because of the egg that's in it and the shared equipment it's prepared on even if the restaurant made it egg-free. Both boys LOVED it!

Not like grams' but tasty nonetheless.

Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• cooked short-grain rice (Calrose or Nishiki brands are good.)
• 2 tbs sesame oil (might need more if making a big batch of fried rice)
• 1-2 tbs butter, optional
• 1/3 c green onions, more or less to taste
• 1/2 can corn, drained (or peas and carrots or veggie of choice)
• won ton filling (see prior post) or bacon, optional
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to directions.
2. Heat sesame oil and butter in large pan or wok and add rice. Let rice fry for 3-4 minutes or until bottom starts to look brown.
3. Using a wide spatula, carefully turn rice over and fry other side another 3-4 minutes.
4. At this time, stir rice around so the rest of the rice can get fried. If more oil is needed, push rice to edges and add a little oil in center of pan. After oil heats up, stir rice into the oil and mix around until rice is coated. Continue frying rice until rice has a good, crisp texture. ENJOY!