Hello again. Here is another dish that is easy to make and also tastes delicious. It's Chinese style fried rice. Since I have lived and worked in Hong Kong for a long time, I also learned to cook some Chinese dishes, and this is one of the easiest. So shall we try cooking together?
You will need:
Ham or bacon, sliced into small pieces
A small can of pineapple chunks or slices
1 or 2 eggs, beaten
a clove of garlic, crushed
some greens- cut into small pieces
fish sauce (patis)
2-3 cups of left over rice of course
When I was in Hong Kong, instead of bacon or ham, I would use the Chinese style roast pork they call 'char siu', and you can buy this in any market or grocery store there that has fresh produce. But here in the Philippines it is not readily available, hence I use ham or bacon. In this particular dish though, I used some left over Christmas ham. :-)
It is always faster and easier to cook when you have prepared all your ingredients ahead of time, and when you start cooking, all you have to do is keep adding your ingredients one at a time. For the pineapple, I prefer buying the sliced ones as it is faster to cut them into smaller pieces. If I buy the chunks, I'd still cut that piece into two as it is too big for my taste. You can also use fresh pineapple if you have some at home.
The first thing I do, when I am using bacon, that is usually what goes in first. As the bacon cooks, the oil from the meat will come out as it cooks. Once almost fully cooked, I add the crushed garlic. And after a minute or two, I put the meat on the side and put in the eggs. I stir the egg around until it is cooked.
When the egg is done, I add in the pineapple slices. I like doing it this way to have the flavors of all the ingredients come out before I put the rice in. After maybe 3 minutes of stirring around, I add the rice.
My rice is a mix of white and red rice, that's why it has this unique color. I stir it around for a few minutes, that way the flavor of all the other ingredients will be infused into the rice.
I then season it with a little bit of fish sauce, maybe a spoonful or so. I don't really measure, I just go by my gut feel, but if you are not yet very confident, it is best to put in a small amount first, that way you can add more if it still needs more flavoring. If you put in too much in one go, the dish is ruined and you won't enjoy your food.
If you don't like using fish sauce, you can use salt instead. That all depends on your preference. You can also opt to use some soy sauce instead. At the very last minute, you can add some chopped greens- it could be anything leafy, in this case I just used some chopped spring onions . This is for added color and makes the dish look more appetizing, and eating more greens is better for you.
Here, my friends, is the finished product. It is a meal on its own, but if you want to eat something else with it, that is perfectly fine. For me, it goes best with broccoli stir fried in garlic and butter. But that is going to be another recipe.
Stay tuned for more cooking!
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