Easy does it

Fried Rice with left overs

It seems like summer is here finally. Strawberries went wild in our back yard and we harvested three times already. Roses are gorgeous! Longer day light means more activities. I need to make quick dinner before heading out the door. No time for fancy dinner (sounds as if we make proper meal every night?).

I have left over peppers from my last post ’Wrapped’ and cooked rice from last night. I started mincing peppers and onion but almost anything goes in fried rice. I didn’t have it but mushrooms are beautiful in this dish too. But does not matter, really. I look through the refrigerator for more clues, daikon? Nahh!  Like I said before “almost’. I omit frozen peas because my son does not like them. Oh for heaven’s sake! It’s good for you, you know? If I put them in, he just eats around it. Oh heck!. Why start the battle with an already adult child? At least he is always pleasant in his refusal and he does dishes. I used to have electric wok but it broke. I miss my wok when I am making this kind of dish or vegetable sauté (野菜いため). I wrote a memo to my husband for adding that to my birthday wish list.

I mince all the vegetables, just because I don’t like big chunks of onion in it so the other vegetable must be minced too, right? For that uniform look? If you don’t mind chunkiness, you save lots of time by not doing the task.  I found mincing vegetable somewhat therapeutic though. Soy sauce is my usual flavor source and curry or ketchup are also nice but surprisingly, the ultimate flavor comes from simply salt and pepper. Fried rice flavor, at least in my case, is dictated by left over ingredients and the chef’s mood.

Today’s Fried rice

Ingredients for 3 people

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon mirin
• 1/2 each of medium size green, yellow and red peppers minced
• 1/2 of onion minced
• 4 slices of Canadian bacon also minced*
• Cooked rice (I used brown rice)- about 3 cups
• Oil-  vegetable oil,butter or sesame oil about 2 tablespoon.
• Sesame seeds – toasted, crushed using a pestle**
• Soy sauce
• Salt and pepper (I prefer white pepper for this dish)

1. In a cereal size bowl, scramble eggs. Add teaspoon of mirin and pinch of salt.
2. Heat large frying pan over medium heat. Put 1 teaspoon of oil in and use a paper towel to coat inside of pan.
3. Pour half of egg mixture into the pan and tilt pan to coat bottom of pan and cook 1 minute or less till egg is manageable yet not dry. Transfer to a plate. Repeat for other half of egg mixture. Cut baked egg in half inch square( it’s not crucial that how big as it will break in sauté process anyway). Set aside.
4. In a same pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add all the vegetable and sauté, stirring with wooden spatula until onion is transparent.
5. Add meat and sauté till cooked. Salt and pepper. 
6. Add cooked rice in, then using edge of spatula (not the flat side) move the ingredients around quickly to combine. You want fluffy rice so do not smash the rice.
7. I added 1 tablespoon of butter here then poured soy sauce around the edge of pan. Move spatula quickly as you can to combine.
8. Add prepared sesame seeds and baked egg, still moving the spatula fast to avoid mushy texture.
9. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with minced green onion if you like. Serve immediately.

* Any kind of meat is fine. I like bacon in it too, no oil necessary if you are using bacon.

** Crushing sesame seeds is for nutrient reason. The body absorbs more good stuff in sesame seeds if you crush them.

The harvested strawberries from our back yard are gleefully used in crepes my husband made one morning and as a topping for ice cream. There are still plenty available and slugs will love them too. We just need to be careful not to eat a slug accidently.