Kimchi Fried Rice

Whenever I open up my fridge and see leftover rice going stale.. I smile to myself and think.. humm... Fried Rice... yay !!! :)

Although this time, I didn't have any chinese sausage, lettuce or green onions left in my fridge. So I couldn't make my grandma's signature fried rice.

I did however have a lot of kimchi that was causing my entire fridge to smell like one big kimchi !

I had opened up a bag of kimchi the previous month, but with all the travelling I've been doing lately, I haven't managed to finish it off. Resulting in my entire fridge being consumed by kimchi smell. Oh well... :)

By the way.. this Kimchi fried rice is something I will be making again and again.. its that good...(grandma will not be pleased).. :)

Kimchi Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of steamed white rice left in the fridge overnight
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
• 4 slices of bacon (sliced in to strips about 1cm wide)
• 1/2 onion (thinly sliced)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of kimchi (roughly chopped)
• 1 tablespoons of kimchi liquid
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
• 1/4 cups of peas
• 1 spring onion (thinly sliced into small round pieces) - optional

Method:

1. Heat up the oil in a deep pan or wok and add in the onion and garlic and saute until aromatic
2. Add in bacon and then the chopped kimchi.
3. Do a few stirs, then add in the rice and use a spatula or something similar to press down on the rice. So the cold rice lumps break up.
4. Sprinkle with 3/4 of the salt, then stir to combine well.
5. Move the rice around to the sides of the pan or wok to create a well or crater in the middle
6. Add the eggs one at a time to the center of the pan, the remaining salt and scramble the eggs as they cook.
7. Fold in the rice, drizzle the soy sauce over the rice, add remaining peas and spring onions (if using) and stir to combine well.
8. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• I prefer the Chung-Ga brand uncut kimchi which is available in Asian grocery stores in sealed bags.

Baked Tomato Pork Chop Rice

This first time I tried this was at a "Cha Chaan Teng", which in english can roughly translate to "Hong Kong Cafe" or "Chinese Tea Restaurant". Its basically a small cafe \ restaurant which serves westernised-chinese crossed with street-hawker type cuisine. Therefore, in one of these places, you will be able to order claypot chicken rice \ congee \ instant noodles \ french toast all washed down with a cup of iced Yin-Yong - A combination of Coffee and Milk Tea.

Yin Yong...And don't mock it till you try it. Its addictive stuff I tell you. Its also in one of these cafe restaurants that you can also find the Baked Tomato Pork Chop Rice.

The baked tomato pork chop rice is basically a layer of egg fried rice, topped with some deep fried crumbed pieces of marinated pork chop, then smothered with tomato based sauce, topped with some cheese and then baked in the oven.

Baked Tomato Pork Chop Rice
Based on recipe at galaxylink - Serves 4

For the Fried Rice

• 4 bowls of rice
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oil

For the Pork Chop

• 8 slices of pork chop
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon chinese 5 spice mixture
• 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
• ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoon chinese wine
• 1 garlic (mashed)
• 1/2 teaspoon cornflour

Crumbling the Pork Chops

• 1/2 cup flour (seasoned with some salt & pepper)
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• oil for deep frying

For the Tomato Sauce:

• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 clove garlic (chopped finely)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 onion (finely diced)
• 1 cup of clear chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (made into a paste with some water)

For the Topping:

• Shredded Chedder cheese

Method:

1. Beat the pork chop the back of a chopper to loosen up the meat.
2. Marinade the pork chops in with oil, salt, sugar, pepper, 5 spice, wine and garlic for half an hour.
3. Dredge the pork chops a piece at a time, first in flour, then in the beaten egg and finally in the bread crumbs. Set aside in the fridge until ready for deep frying.
4. Preheat oven to 200C.
5. Heat oil in wok till hot. Add the eggs and scramble the eggs until its just cooked, remove and set aside. Add cooked rice and stir fry over high heat. Add salt and soy sauce, then add the scrambled eggs back in and mix in with the rice. Put the fried rice on a large oven proof dish and set aside.
6. In a saucepan saute the garlic and the onions in oil until it turns transparent.
7. Add in the chicken broth, then the canned tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a boil
8. Add tomato ketchup, salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce.
9. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. While the sauce is reducing, heat the oil for deep frying.
10. Deep fry the pork chops in medium high heat till slightly golden brown and set aside on some paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
11. Place the fried pork chop on top of the rice in a single layer. Thicken the tomato sauce with the cornstarch mixture. Pour the sauce evenly over the pork chop and sprinkle a handful of cheese over the top.
12. Bake in the over for 5 minutes or till the sauce is slightly brown on top.
13. Serve immedately - preferably with a cup of iced Yin Yong :)
    

Tips on Crumbing:

• Before you start crumbing, arrange the ingredients in a production line, in the order you'll be using them. ie. A large plate of flour seasoned with salt and pepper -> lightly beaten eggs into a bowl -> breadcrumbs on a separate large plate.
• Try to keep one hand as the 'dry hand' handling the flour and breadcrumb plates and the other 'wet hand' for handling the marinated pork chops and the egg dredging part. This avoids your fingers to be crumbed as well :)
• Once the pork chop pieces have been crumbed, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to rest before frying. This will help the crumb coating stick to the meat during cooking.
  

Stir Fry Raw Glutinous Rice

There are many ways of cooking glutinous rice. My grandma prefers to just steam the rice raw in a wok then stir fried along with the other ingredients. The last time I was back home in Perth, one of my aunts turned up to a BBQ with a rice cooker packed full of what she called 'stir fried raw glutinous rice'... (btw..the rice cooker at BBQ is an asian thing). She said that she soaked the rice overnight, then just stir fried it along with the other ingredients.. no steaming required. So I tried this method tonight... And it turned out alright. The rice I think turned out more fragrant this way. Hummm...Wondering if I should tell my Gran that I think Aunty's recipe is better than hers.. ?! I think not. Anyways, here is the recipe...

Stir Fried Raw Glutinous Rice - 生炒糥米飯
recipe & method originally from my Aunt

• 3 cups white glutinous rice (washed 3-4 times, then soaked overnight)
• 30g dried shrimp (rinsed, soaked in water, chopped - reserve water)
• 8 medium dried Chinese mushrooms(rinsed, soaked in water, diced - reserve water)
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger (smashed)
• 2 teaspoon chinese rice wine
• 2 wind-dried Chinese pork sausage (washed, skin removed, halved lengthwise then diced)
• 1 wind-dried Chinese duck-liver sausage (washed, skin removed, halved lengthwise then diced)
• 7cm piece of chinese waxed meat (washed, diced)
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
• 4 to 6 scallions (cut into small rounds, white and green parts separated)
• small bunch coriander leaves, torn up

Heat the peanut oil in a wok add ginger piece, fry until fragrant. Add chinese sausages and meat, mushrooms and then shrimps. Pour in the chinese wine, then sprinkle in about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Fry for a couple of minutes then set aside.

Pour glutinous rice into the wok and stir fry. After a couple of minutes, add back in the ingredients previously set aside. Continue to stir well for another 10-15 mins. This part is where all the reserved 'soaking water' comes in. The rice will get drier as the frying goes on. When it does, add in a bit of the reserved water. Continue to stir the rice about, as it soaks up the water. This part is a bit like making risotto. Once the rice has turned translucent and has 'cooked'.. (you can taste it at this point in time, and it should be a bit chewy). Add in the dark soy sauce and salt to taste. Remove from heat. Mix in the white parts of the scallions. Discard ginger piece.

If the rice is still a bit hard, place into a rice cooker on 'keep warm' setting and cook for 30 mins. I find that placing the glutinous rice into the rice cooking on 'keep warm' setting allows it to stay moist until I have to serve it.

Before serving, mix in the green scallions, and sprinkle on top with coriander leaves and if desired, top with some fried egg and a dash of white pepper powder.

Shanghainese Veggie Rice

A one-pot-contains-all meal. I usually make this for dinner, when I can't be bothered making a separate veggie or meat dish. I think the first time I tried this was when I was in Hong Kong on holiday. The waitress asked me if I would like plain rice or 'Choi-Fan' with my order. I opted for the later and was nicely surprised. The vegetable rice was so tasty. Instead of being a side dish for my main, it became the star.

Shanghainese Vegetable Rice
First tasted in Hong Kong - recipe by Astrogirl

• 2 cups of white rice
• 1 cup clear chicken broth
• pinch of salt
• cooking oil
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
• 4 slices of salted pork (optional - sliced thinly - from asian grocery)
• 3 bunches of small bak choi (roughly chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of chinese wine
• couple of dashes of sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

Wash the rice until the water runs clear, add 1 can of chicken broth and a pinch of salt to the washed rice and set rice cooker to start. 5 mins before the rice has finished cooking, add some cooking oil to a pan, once it has heated up add garlic then salted pork (if using) and then the chopped up small bak choi. Once the veggies starts to cook, add sesame oil and soy sauce.

By this time the rice cooker would have finished. Pour the contents of the pan into the rice cooker and mix everything all around.

Put the lid back on the rice cooker and let sit on 'standby' for another 45 mins.

Serve alone or with other meat veggie dishes.

Notes:

• The 'choi-fan' I tried in Hong Kong although tasty was actually quite oily. I try to use about a teaspoon of oil, just enough to get the garlic flavors going in the beginning.
  

Chinese Congee

This is a recipe for Chinese Congee. Or what is sometimes referred to as chinese porridge. Its actually quite similar to my grandma's recipe. Only without the vast amount of innards she usually adds in. Not that it doesn't taste nice, its just I'm not 100% sure how to clean\prepare the innards....yet. A good bowl of congee should have the rice completely integrated, you shouldn't be able to see individual rice grains. This requires the rice to be washed, drained then mixed in with a teaspoon of cooking oil and set aside for at least an hour before cooking.

After the base congee is made, you can add different ingredients. Pork with century eggs is a traditional combination. Other well known types of chinese congee are:

• Chicken with Abalone
• Fish Pieces (fresh) with Peanuts
• Chicken and Mushroom
• Pork with dried scallops and wind-dried oysters

Here is my take on congee with century eggs and mince pork balls.

Century Eggs with Mince Pork Balls Congee
Original recipe from my grandma

Base Congee
Wash the rice, mix in the cooking oil then set a side:

• 2 cups of Rice (washed through until water runs clear)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cooking oil
• 8 cups of water (bring to boil in a large pot)

Mince Pork Balls
Marinate the following together:

• 250g mince pork
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• green spring onions (finely sliced)
• couple of dashes of sesame oil

When Congee is nearly ready add in...

• Mince pork balls (see above)
• 2 Century old eggs (roughly diced)
• 2 salted duck eggs (yoke roughly diced)

Toppings
Serve with...

• fried glutin
• soy sauce
• spring onions
• coriander

Chicken Mushroom & Dried Scallop Rice

This is another one of my grandma's dishes, which I have adapted into one of my a so-called 'one pot' meals.

Its pretty much just throwing everything together to be cooked in the rice pot. So instead of plain old steam rice served with separate dishes. The dish is incorporated into the steam rice. The result is a bit like chinese fried rice, except the method calls for steaming with some fresh rice. Therefore, it is also a lot less oily than fried rice. Also Chinese fried rice is best made with leftover rice that has been sitting in the fridge overnight.

Chicken Mushroom & Dried Scallop Rice
Adapted from a Recipe originating from my grandma

• 3 cups of white rice
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 4 dried scallops (soaked overnight - water reserved)
• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked overnight - chopped - water reserved)
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• thumbsized piece ginger (smashed)
• 300g chicken mince
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon chinese rice wine

Method:

1. Wash the rice until the water runs clear.
2. Using a fork, break up the dried scallops. Add scallops and the reserved water into the rice. If needed, fill the rice cooker with water to the required amount to cook 3 cups of rice.
3. Add in the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir the rice around, so that there is an even spread of scallops around the rice. Start the rice cooker. When the rice is nearly ready...
4. Heat the oil in a pan and add in the ginger. Once you start to smell the ginger, add in chopped mushrooms and the chicken mince.
5. Add in the seasonings - salt, soy sauce, sugar, wine and oyster sauce.
6. Pour in about 3 tablespoons of the reserved mushroom water. Enough so that the chicken doesn't dry out too much as it cooks.
7. Stirfry the contents around until the chicken mince has just cooked. Discard the ginger piece.
8. Open the rice cooker and pour in the contents of the pan and mix everything into the rice.
9. Close the lid of the rice cooker and let the contents sit for at least 30 mins on the 'keep warm' setting.

Notes:

• 3 cups of rice is enough for 3 very hungry people or about 5 'normal eating' people
• Taste the rice. If its a bit too bland, drizzle a bit of light soy sauce over the rice and mix well before serving.
• The ginger is optional, and is used to fragrant the oil and the other ingredients during the stir frying process.