OMGSNAX!

bear cub’s been recording at my house this week & they were set to come over this evening to practice, so i figured something that involved a lot of prep time would work well as everyone else would be busy while i was cooking — although it was awfully loud as they were playing at full volume one room over, so loud that those of us in the kitchen couldn’t really make conversation over the noise & through our earplugs!

i saw the rice bowl post on kim o’donnel’s blog in the washington post & realized that i hadn’t made fried rice in some time, so i was quite excited to give this new recipe a try!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup chopped shallots
2 tablespoons minced, mild fresh chilies
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup diced carrots (substitute: chopped fresh green beans)
4 cups cold cooked rice (about 1 1/3 cups uncooked rice)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery (substitute: chopped bok choy)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

METHOD
heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact.

swirl in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, & the eggs. cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, tilting wok so that the eggs cover the surface as thinly as possible to make a pancake. when bottom is just beginning to brown & egg is just set, flip & allow to set on other side, about 5 seconds. transfer to a cutting board & cut into shreds.

add remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil, followed by shallots, chiles, & garlic, & stir-fry for about 10 seconds. add carrots (or substitute), reduce to medium heat & stir-fry 2-3 minutes until shallots soften. add rice, bell pepper, celery (or substitute), soy sauce, salt, & pepper. increase heat to medium-high & cook 2-3 minutes more, breaking up rice with a metal spatula until heated through. add egg & stir to combine.

remove wok from heat. stir in cilantro & drizzle remaining sesame oil.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i doubled the recipe since there were six of us eating, & that worked out just about right & was still manageable in the wok. more & more, i’ve noticed how difficult it is to properly use a wok on an electric range (especially one as shoddy as mine!). i blame alton brown for raising my awareness here — but it still seems to get the job done, so not too many complaints.

i do think the trick of using cold rice is probably helpful for it to be more fried & less sticky (i didn’t plan ahead & spent most of the day with my cousins, so i had to make the rice while i was chopping vegetables), & i have a hunch that long-grained rice would go a long way to that goal, too, but the taste was still fine & i don’t have a problem with sticky rice anyway.

the only real substitution i made was using peanut oil instead of vegetable oil. i considered adding broccoli (everything’s better with broccoli!), but it makes val sick so i refrained.

honestly, i’m not sure if i can say how it compared to the other fried rice. i’ve made it on several different occasions, & i do appreciate the addition of the tofu (which isn’t very popular among many of the people who eat my cooking), but i think that taste-wise, this version was maybe a little bit better by virtue of being less complicated. i definitely enjoyed the inclusion of the fried egg in this one!

 

 

 

“Aromatic Vegetarian Fried Rice” from The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young, via Kim O’Donnel.

this is a dish my mom used to make all the time when i was a kid & is one of the first recipes i learned how to make when i was old enough to get sucked into making dinner for the family. additionally, i believe it holds the record as my most requested birthday dish!

when my sister was little, we tricked her into eating manicotti by telling her it was stuffed with cheese & parsley — no spinach to be found. she was really mad when she discovered our lie, but it worked!

INGREDIENTS
1 package frozen spinach
2 eggs
4 cloves minced garlic
1 15-oz package ricotta cheese
12 manicotti noodles
1 jar tomato sauce

METHOD
thaw spinach under hot running water & press to remove excess moisture. combine with ricotta cheese, garlic, & eggs & set aside.

parboil manicotti noodles (about 4 minutes).

stuff noodles with cheese/spinach mixture & place in 9″x13″ baking pan. top with a generous amount of tomato sauce. bake at 350, covered, for 30 minutes.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
lordy, at this point, any deviations have become scripture! this is an incredibly simple dish, & the only thing to watch for is that there’s a danger that the parboiled manicotti noodles may split. i’ve solved that problem for the most part by draining them & then removing them immediately from the colander to a plate or two so that they can lay flat without other noodles pressing on them.

fresh spinach can be used as well, but i’m not very good at estimating how much it’ll cook down.

for the record, daniel doesn’t like cooked spinach & yet has enjoyed this for dinner on several occasions, so that ought to tell you something!

 

 

 

“Manicotti” from my mama!