Chicken Fried Rice

Somehow I got myself on a weird grocery shopping schedule and I don't like it.  I used to grocery shop every Sunday, get all my ingredients for my weekly meal plan and be done.  Then about 2 weeks ago, we were busy all weekend so I made the bad decision to hit the grocery store on a Wednesday morning WITH THE KIDS.  Bad idea.  But then the weekend came and since I had just been there Wednesday, I didn't need much so I was good again until mid week.  Sigh. I love my kids, I just don't want to food shop with them.

Why am I telling you this?

This week, I was/am determined to stretch what I have until the weekend so I can once again be on the "mommy alone time" grocery shopping schedule.  After scouring the fridge, I decided I had all the makings for fried rice.  The only problem was that I had no idea how to make it.  So I went over to my favorite Asian Cuisine blog, Rasa Malaysia and found myself a recipe.

Mine is pretty similar to the original but I made some changes.  You'll notice I used peas, the only reason I did was that I had a bowl of leftover peas from earlier in the week and I thought they would add color.  This is really a great way to use up leftover veggies, so plan this for an end of the week meal and use up your leftovers from the week. Also, I meant to add the white pepper like she listed but I totally forgot and well, it was still delicious, so add it or don't add it, it's up to you.

Chicken Fried Rice

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Ingredients:

2 T canola oil

1 T ginger paste or 2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into strips)

2 C cooked, day old rice

1 lb boneless chicken, cut into small bite sized pieces

2 carrots, diced small

½ large onion, diced

½ C frozen peas, defrosted

2 T fish sauce

2 T soy sauce

½ tsp oyster sauce

2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Heat oil in wok or large sauté pan over medium/high heat.  Add chicken.  Stir fry until chicken is almost cooked through, about 4 minutes.  Add  ginger.  Cook another 2 minutes.

Add rice to pan and stir well.  Add soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce.  Continue to cook, stirring often to mix ingredients for 3-4 minutes.

Make a well in the center of the rice mixture and pour the beaten eggs in the well.  Wait 30 seconds and cover the “egg well” with the rice mixture.  Leave it alone for 30 seconds and then continue to stir fry to mix the egg into the rice mixture for 2 minutes. Serve hot.

 

My biggest tip for this, and actually, most if not all Asian dishes, is prep.  Get all your ingredients ready to go before you start.  It moves very quickly!

So there you have it, a yummy meal that was cheap and easy.  And the best part is now I can hit the grocery store, pop in the ear buds and tune out the world for a full hour and a half! 

Question of the day:  Do you take the kids grocery shopping or is that your alone time?