I have a bad habit of never measuring anything, being random and spontaneous while cooking, and never making any recipe the same twice. So when reading my recipes, I encourage you to keep in mind that nothing is set in stone, all the measurements are approximate, and you should feel as free as I do to substitute. In fact, if you take my recipe and tweak it and get something good out of it, please message me and let me know!
So to start, here is a reinvented version of fried rice, which is pretty different. Instead of putting egg directly on the skillet while frying the rice, I make a mixture with the egg and various sauces and spices, and pour directly over rice, and mix quickly to make sure all the rice is evenly coated. Depending on the mixture, the dish tastes very different, but the overall effect, usually, is that it tastes more homey, more comfort-foody.
Reinvented Egg-Fried Rice
This is the recipe for the rice above:
1 cup of cooked white rice
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 egg
2 tsp soy sauce (depending on how salty you want this)
2 tsp Gourmet Garden Ginger Spice Blend
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp brown cane sugar
Directions: Beat the egg lightly with a fork with the rest of the ingredients. Set rice to fry in the olive oil and spoon the egg mixture evenly over rice and use a spatula to mix the rice with the egg quickly, before the egg solidifies. Toss in the red pepper, and fry rice until it's dry and falls apart easily.
By the way, the Ginger Paste I used is ok, but I am not endorsing or recommending it. In fact, if you happen to have fresh ginger on hand, that'd probably be better, and you could just throw in an extra teaspoon of cane sugar. The ginger blend is just what I happened to use this time.
Other variations for egg mixtures have included, but are not limited to tamari (I use South River Miso tamari, but you can find cheap tamari in your local japanese market), spicy Russian mustard, garlic, tomato juice, and much more. More concrete variations to come. Also, don't limit yourself on the veggies: throw in squashes, scallions, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, bean sprouts, and whatever else suits your fancy!
Hope you enjoy and send me your own variations!
