Sacha Bell Pepper and Beef Fried Rice 沙茶青椒牛肉炒飯

Bell pepper and beef stir-fry is one classic Chinese dish. The key to its success is wok hei, the bigger the fire with quicker cooking time can create such mouth-watering aroma to the dish.

We are not aiming for wok hei this time since it can be quite a task for regular household cookware with the usual more "chilled" style cooking method. However, we can still take that wonderful seasonings from the stir-fry and turn it into a fried rice meal. To make it even better, sacha sauce is already standing by for a flavor boost.

Sacha flavored bell pepper and beef fried rice 沙茶青椒牛肉炒飯 - 

Ingredients (about 5 to 6 portions)?

• 3 rice measuring cups white rice
• 2 bell peppers
• 2 eggs 
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 medium onion
• 450 grams beef chunks
• 3 tablespoons sacha sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• Some red chilies (I used pickled red chilies instead)

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
• 1 egg white

How?

Pre-cook the rice with a bit less than usual amount of water. Once done, fluff the grains and set aside for later use. You can also pre-cook the rice the day before or use any leftover rice for this recipe.

Slice the beef to bite size chunks. I actually used cheaper grade steak here. Use all the ingredients under the "marinade" section to massage and marinate the meat.

Note that we're only using the egg white here, so simply pour the remaining yolk to a bowl. Also break two more eggs to that bowl along with one pinch of salt. Beat till blended and set aside for later use.

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Peel and chop the onion. Destem, pitted, and slice the bell peppers. If using fresh chilies, destem, chop into rings and soak with some soy sauce. Set aside till the end when the fried rice is ready.

Take out a wok, drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil and switch to medium heat. Wait till the oil gets warm. Add in beaten egg and make scrambled eggs. Once ready, scoop out and set aside.

Still using the same wok, pour in 1 1/2 more tablespoons of oil and still using medium heat. Transfer onion over along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook till the edge of the onion turns slightly browned. Add in garlic and cook till aromatic but not burnt.

Transfer bell pepper slices over and give it a quick stir-fry, about 30 seconds to one minute. Add in the beef along with its marinade. Cook till the meat starts to change color. Add 3 tablespoons of sacha sauce. Use up to 5 tablespoons for a stronger sacha taste. Stir-fry till evenly blended.

Mix in cooked rice in two batches. Make sure the first batch has been incorporated with all other ingredients before adding the second batch. Once all mixed together, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. I actually added one more pinch of salt and one more tablespoon of soy sauce for a saltier result.

Once the flavor is checked, add back the scrambled eggs and stir till evenly blended. Plate and top the fried rice with chilies in soy sauce or pickled chilies.

Adding additional sacha sauce was actually Mister's idea. He simply adores it. In fact, he often requests for sacha sauce at a local restaurant for fried rice takeout. You have to pay a tiny bit more for the additional sauce though. So this time around, I actually bumped up the amount of sacha sauce to fulfill his cravings. No extra charge required.

Mister seemed content after this meal.

Other fried rice recipes:

• Three cup chicken fried rice 三杯雞炒飯
• Spam fried rice with colorful veggies 午餐肉炒飯
• Bitter tea oil fried rice 苦茶油炒飯

Spicy Sausage Fried Rice (Interchangeable with Chorizo)

The spicy sausage I'm using here is the Chinese kind, and I know it can be hard to find if you're in western countries. Worry not, if that's the case, use other spicy varieties. Take chorizo for instance, which can be a great substitute if you can't get a hold of Chinese spicy sausages.

Spicy sausage fried rice (interchangeable with chorizo) - 

Ingredients (about 5 servings)?

• 3 rice measuring cups basmati rice
• 4 spicy sausages
• 2/3 cup green beans/peas
• 200 grams gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
• 3 eggs
• 2 stalks scallion
• 1 chunk ginger
• 1/2 cup peeled and chopped shallots
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder

How?

Measure the rice to the inner pot of rice cooker. Rinse and drain the water a few times. Cook the rice with a bit less water than usual. Per my case, I use the rice measuring cup and measured 3 cups of rice, then I only added water up to the scale indicating 2 1/2 cups of rice.

When the rice is cooked, fluff the grains and wait till some steam has been escaped. I prefer to cook the rice the day before, just so it'll be less work for me on the actual day of cooking.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and quickly cook the peas. It should take no more than a minute. Drain and remove the skin if needed. There is no need to boil the peas first if using precooked frozen peas.

Steam the Asian spicy sausages first, or sear the western version instead. Once fully cooked through, remove from heat and let the sausages sit till cool enough to handle by hand. Pour out all the sausage juice or fats to a bowl. 

Slice the sausages to thinner pieces and transfer to the bowl with juice and fats. It'll keep the slices moist while we prep other ingredients.

Peel and chop the shallots. We will need about 1/2 cup of prepped shallots later on. Scrape the ginger skin and finely chop the ginger, we will need about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of prepped ginger. Destem and chop the scallion. Chop the gai lan. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a big wok. Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets warm. Once hot enough, pour in beaten eggs to make scrambled eggs. You can use a spatula to break the eggs to smaller pieces while the heat keeps going. Once done, scoop out the eggs and set aside first.

Still using the same wok, pour in 2 tablespoons of olive oil again and switch to medium high heat. Only use high heat if you can work your way around the fire fast enough without burning or messing up things.

Add in shallot, ginger, scallion, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir-fry till aromatic but not burning the garlic.

Transfer chopped gai lan over along with peas. Continue to cook for a minute. Add the sausages along with its juice and fats. Mix till blended.

Add cooked rice over, also 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Flip, fluff, or gently mix the rice with all these ingredients. Try not to "smash" or "over-stir" the rice, that way the grains can turn mushy or broken to even smaller pieces.

Transfer scrambled eggs over and mix till blended. Taste and adjust with additional seasonings if needed. Especially most likely we are using different kind of spicy sausages, it's best to give it a taste test and see if the rice is salty enough.

Once checked and ready to go, scoop the rice to serving plates or bowls and enjoy right away.

One can say the key here is the spicy sausage. That's right, the flavor of the sausage controls a big portion of the taste profile here. But the key aroma lies on shallots and ginger. You have to use shallots here, not onion. And ginger provides a bright yet slightly spicy Asian tone to it, even though you won't really notice its presence. 

Sausages, we can improvise. But aromatics must stay. 

Other fried rice recipes:

• Sacha bell pepper and beef fried rice 沙茶青椒牛肉炒飯
• Three cup chicken fried rice 三杯雞炒飯
• SPAM fried rice with colorful veggies 午餐肉炒飯
• Bitter tea oil fried rice 苦茶油炒飯

Uni and Crab Fried Rice, Pampered with Extra Fresh Uni on Top

Went to a Taiwanese seafood restaurant a while back and one of the dishes that night was some sort of fried rice with orange bits throughout. Didn't quite realize what it was until I flip through the camera images days after, it was uni/sea urchin fried rice. The orange bits were fresh uni. 

Perhaps these tiny bits of ocean jewels were not enough for me, so I've decided to take the idea and make my own "luxurious" seafood fried rice (wink*).

Uni and crab fried rice -

Ingredients (3 to 4 portions)?

• 2 cups of uncooked white rice
• 2 thin/skinny type cucumbers
• 1 whole kernel corn
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 stalk scallion
• 6 ounces/170 grams crab meat
• 3.5 ounces/100 grams uni
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 red chilies (optional)
• Some white pepper powder
• Some cilantro

How?

Crab is in season now, you can buy a whole crab, boil, then scrape out the crabmeat yourself, or just use store bought packaged version. Give and take, if using whole crab, you get to add flavorful crab brain (kani miso), but of course the prep work is going to be much more strenuous.

If using freshly cooked rice, cook two cups of white rice using a little bit less water than usual. You can also use overnight leftover rice instead. 

Peel and cube the onion and cucumbers. Discard the scallion stem and chop the remaining into smaller pieces. 

Drizzle enough olive oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan, about two tablespoons. Turn to medium high heat and add in chopped onion. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and give it a quick mix. Cook till the edges of the onion cubes turned slightly browned. Add in two finely chopped red chilies if preferred.

Add in cubed cucumber and corn kernels. Give it a stir and cook for another minute.

Add one tablespoon of fish sauce, mix a little. Gently fold in the crabmeat and 3/4 of uni. 

Add the rice to the mixture in two batches, easier to stir fry this way and make sure every grain has been coated with all the flavors. Toss in chopped scallion along with some white pepper powder. Taste and see if more fish sauce or salt is needed for extra saltiness.

Transfer the fried rice to a serving dish, top with remaining uni and sprinkle some chopped cilantro.

Truly a pampered fried rice meal.


Other fried rice recipes:

• Light version: smoked salmon fried rice 煙燻鮭魚炒飯
• This time, no chicken eggs, but salted duck eggs for Chinese fried rice 鹹鴨蛋秋葵飯
• Kimchi and shirasu fried rice with a hint of shiso, and of course the sinful egg yolk
• Sirloin fried rice with crisp red onions and a hint of Japanese seasonings (蒜香味噌牛排炒飯)
• Fried rice with shirasu and tuna floss - 雙魚炒飯

Light Version: Smoked Salmon Fried Rice 煙燻鮭魚炒飯

When talking about fried rice, most people would suggest using leftover rice that has been stored in the fridge overnight. The reason behind is that the grains contain less moisture after a day or two, which separates easily instead of sticking together when stir frying with other ingredients. It's also one good way to utilize leftover ingredients in the kitchen.

However, freshly cooked rice can be just as easy to work with. Make sure to use less water, which results in less sticky rice. When the freshly cooked rice is ready, fluff the grains and let the hot steam evaporates completely before mixing with other ingredients.

Smoked salmon fried rice -

Ingredients (for 3 to 4 portions)?

• 2 1/2 cups white rice (before cooking)
• 100 grams/4 ounces of smoked salmon
• 2 eggs
• 1 small can of corn kernels (I used one fresh corn on the cob)
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 small carrot
• 1 big shallot
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped scallion
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• Some olive oil
• Some salt 
• Some black pepper
• Some Sriracha/chili sauce/white pepper powder (optional)

How?

Cook the rice with lesser amount of water or simply use leftover rice for this recipe, make sure to prepare enough for 3 to 4 portions.

Peel and dice the onion and shallot. Peel and dice the cucumber and carrot, smaller cubes for the carrot since it's harder to cook through. Finely chop the cilantro, use the stem part if possible. Finely chop the scallion. Drain the corn if using canned version, or slice down the kernels from one fresh corn on the cob. 

Break the smoked salmon into smaller pieces.

Break two eggs in a bowl and add one tiny pinch of salt, beat well. Drizzle just enough olive oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan and turn to medium high heat. Once the oil heats up, pour in the egg mixture and keep scrambling. You can turn off the heat first to prevent the mixture from browning and keep using a spatula or wooden spoon to break the eggs into tiny pieces. Scoop out and set aside for later use.

Drizzle more olive oil to the pan, about 2 tablespoons, and turn to medium high heat. Add in the onion, shallot, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Cook till the edges of the onion turns slightly browned.

Add in carrot, cucumber, and corn. Give it a quick stir and cook for about one minute. Add in finely chopped cilantro and fish sauce.

Mix in cooked rice. You can dump the rice in two batches if needed, it takes quite some strength to stir fry such big portion of grains. Add in scrambled eggs and mix well. Taste and adjust with more salt if needed, but do keep in mind that salty smoked salmon will be added to the fried rice shortly.

Add in smoked salmon and mix a little. Plate the fried rice and garnished with chopped scallion and cilantro leaves. Served with Sriracha, chili sauce, or white pepper powder if desired. 

The key to make this lighter tasting fried rice is the use of smoked salmon and cilantro. Just make sure to keep these two and you can substitute other ingredients with any leftover items in the fridge such as zucchini, squash, and bell pepper. 

Other fried rice recipes:

• This time, no chicken eggs, but salted duck eggs for Chinese fried rice
• Kimchi and shirasu fried rice with a hint of shiso and of course the sinful egg yolk
• Sirloin fried rice with crisp red onions and a hint of Japanese seasonings
• Fried rice with shirasu and tuna floss

Three Cup Chicken Fried Rice 三杯雞炒飯

Three cup chicken, if you haven't really heard of it, is basically a Chinese/Taiwanese dish made with one cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of Chinese rice cooking wine, and 1 cup of sesame oil. Usually ginger, garlics, and Chinese basil are also involved in bringing up extra aromatics.

You don't have to strictly follow the proportion of the seasonings, the idea of "three cup" simply implies a general rule for making three cup dishes. Depending on your preference, sometimes people like to tone down the amount of sesame oil used. 

This time, instead of three cup chicken alone, I'm going to give it a little twist and turn the classic flavor into fried rice.

Three cup chicken fried rice 三杯雞炒飯 -

Ingredients (about 4 portions)?

• 570 grams, about 1.25 lbs dark meat chicken (boneless, skin-on preferred)
• 1 chunk old ginger
• 4 to 5 garlic cloves
• 50 grams or 1 loosely packed cup chopped Chinese basil
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 rice measuring cups brown rice
• 2 tablespoons black sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or other preferred cooking oil
• Some red chili sauce (optional)

Marinade:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon black sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar

How?

Precook 2 1/2 rice measuring cups of brown rice. You can use white rice instead, just remember to use less water than usual when cooking the rice. Once ready, fluff the rice and set aside. Leftover rice works too.

Cut the chicken into large bite size pieces. Massage and marinate the chicken with all the ingredients listed under the "marinade" section. Simply let it marinate while prepping other ingredients.

Pick out the Chinese basil leaves and give it a fine chop. Beat 4 eggs. Add in chopped Chinese basil leaves and beat again till evenly blended.

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Scrape the skin and slice the old ginger, about 1 to 1.5 mm thickness.

Use a non-stick pan or a wok, drizzle 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, not the black sesame oil, to the pan and turn to medium high heat. Once warmed up, pour in beaten egg and make scrambled egg there. You can let the beaten egg set for a bit before stirring it. Scoop out the eggs for later use.

Still using the same pan, this time drizzle 2 tablespoons of black sesame oil over and continue with medium high heat. Add in ginger and sear till slightly colored. 

Add in garlic and chicken along with its marinade. Give it a quick mix. Cook till no more extra juice present, like almost dried up.

Mix in rice in two batches. Make sure each grains are coated with the seasonings first before adding the second batch. Once well blended, mix in scrambled eggs. Mix and give it a taste, see if need more soy sauce or other seasonings.

Plate and serve with some chili sauce on top.

How about fancier version of three cup chicken fried rice? Try frying up some Chinese basil leaves till crispy, like the ones you sometimes get from a Taiwanese crispy chicken place. Garnish the leaves on top of the rice. It'll definitely provide more depth, both presentation and flavor-wise. 

Other fried rice recipes:

• SPAM fried rice with colorful veggies 午餐肉炒飯
• Bitter tea oil fried rice 苦茶油炒飯

Salted Duck Egg and Salmon Fried Rice 鹹鴨蛋鮭魚芥蘭炒飯

You don't really need to cook the salted duck egg, like my earlier recipe for ground chicken and shiitake mushroom congee, you can see that I simply peeled and halved the egg then served as it is. But sometimes people will further steam or quickly stir-fry the egg mixture for other dishes.

That's exactly what we are going to do to the salted duck egg this time. As for this fried rice recipe, the salted duck egg will break into smaller pieces while stir-frying in the wok at the same time. This will enhance the savory aroma, in which the egg will also serve as a different salty source on top of salt and soy sauce.

Salted duck egg and salmon fried rice 鹹鴨蛋鮭魚芥蘭炒飯 - 

Ingredients (about 5 portions)?

• 3 rice measuring cups white rice
• 3 regular measuring cups chopped gai lan
• 1 1/4 cups salmon cubes
• 3 salted duck eggs
• 1/2 onion
• Some olive oil or other preferred cooking oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Few dashes white pepper powder 

How?

Precook 3 rice measuring cups of white rice with slightly less amount of water than usual. This will result in dryer rice that are suitable for making fried rice. Once ready, fluff the rice and set aside for later use. You can also opt for leftover rice instead.

Slice the salmon fillet into smaller bite size cubes. Marinate the salmon with 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce for at least 15 minutes. 

Peel and dice the onion. Dice the gai lan. Peel away the egg shell for the salted duck eggs.

Prepare a wok or a big pan, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of oil and turn to medium heat. Wait till the surface gets warm, add in salmon cubes and let it sear first undisturbed. After a moment, flip and sear the other side. Let it set first before stir-frying can help preventing the fish from sticking to the wok/pan.

Continue to stir-fry the salmon gently just to make sure the fish are evenly seared. Once done, scoop out for later use.

Still using the same wok or pan, drizzle more oil to coat the surface, about 2 tablespoons. Turn to medium low heat this time. Add in peeled salted duck eggs and cut into smaller pieces with a spatula. Continue to break the eggs while stir-frying at the same time. Cook till slightly darkened and aromatic, scoop out for later use.

Again, drizzle more oil if needed, just enough to coat the wok/pan again. Back to medium heat. Add in chopped onion along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook till slightly golden brown.

Add in chopped gai lan and give it a quick stir-fry. You can up the fire to high heat if preferred, that's actually better but you need to make sure to maneuver fast enough without getting things burnt.

Transfer cooked rice over in two batches. Make sure the grains are evenly coated with the seasonings before adding the second batch. Add in salted duck egg and fluff the entire mixture. Taste and see if need more seasonings. I actually added 2 more tablespoons of soy sauce and few more dashes of white pepper powder here.

Lastly, mix in salmon cubes and cook till evenly blended in. Plate and serve.

It's important to taste and adjust the flavor "after" the salted duck egg has been added. The salted duck egg can be quite salty, so it's safer to check on the taste afterwards.

By the way, it doesn't have to be salmon, chicken works too and you don't even need to change a thing to work with it. Still use the same amount of soy sauce and Chinese rice cooking wine to marinate the chicken. If you'd like, you can even add about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar to the marinade. It'll create a nice dark soy sauce color when searing the chicken pieces.   

Other fried rice recipes:

• Three cup chicken fried rice 三杯雞炒飯
• SPAM fried rice with colorful veggies 午餐肉炒飯
• Bitter tea oil fried rice 苦茶油炒飯

This Time, No Chicken Eggs, but Salted Duck Eggs for Chinese Fried Rice 鹹鴨蛋秋葵炒飯

Salted duck egg is one of the commonly used ingredients in Taiwanese cooking. It's a type of preserved product by soaking the duck eggs in highly salted water for few weeks. The eggs will then steamed, packed, and sold in grocery stores. 

You can crack the shell and serve the egg straight up, usually with porridge for breakfast. You can also crush the egg and cook in oil for few minutes to enhance the aroma. This will then be used as the base sauce or seasonings for other ingredients, the more common pairings are fried king oyster mushroom and fried shrimps.

For this recipe, I'm going to utilize the second method of cooking the salted eggs first then mix with my fried rice ingredients. It's nice to steer away from the regular chicken eggs and substitute with heavier tasting salted duck eggs once a while. 

Chinese fried rice with salted duck eggs, okra, and chicken -

Ingredients (for 3 to 4 portions)?

• 5 chicken tenders
• 12 okra
• 2 salted duck eggs
• 3 fresh red chilies plus extra for garnish
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small onion
• 2 cups of steamed rice
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• Small pinch of salt
• Small pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• Small pinch of white pepper powder
• 1 small bundle of cilantro stems plus some leaves for garnish

How?

Cook 2 cups of white rice but use a little bit less water than usual. This way you'll get chewier freshly cooked grains, which is the texture we are looking for to use in fried rice recipe. Overnight leftover rice also works well.

Crack the duck egg shells and smash both the egg white and yolk in a small bowl. 

Remove the chili stems and finely chop the remaining. Remove the okra stems and slice the remaining. Peel and chop the onion into small square pieces. Peel and chop the carrot into tiny cubes. Discard the very bottom root of the cilantro and finely chop the remaining stems, save some leaves for garnish. Cut the chicken tender into smaller pieces, there's no need to marinate for this recipe. 

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan and turn to medium heat. Add in smashed duck eggs. It'll start bubbling slightly when heated up, make sure to stir constantly to prevent from burning. Wait till the color changes to darker yellow hue and the aroma comes out then scoop to a bowl for later use. 

Drizzle another 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan and turn to medium high heat. Add in chopped onion along with small pinch of salt and small pinch of black pepper. Give it a quick stir and cook till slightly browned on the edges, about 5 minutes. Add in the chilies and cilantro stems. The stems are tougher so need to cook earlier during the process.

Transfer the carrot into the mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Once done, add in the chicken and cook for 2 minutes, then okra for another 2 more minutes. 

Pour in the duck egg paste, pour in the soy sauce along the rim of the pan, the heat will draw out more soy aroma this way. Add a little bit of white pepper powder. Give the mixture a quick stir.

Add in cooked rice and lower the heat. Gently mix the ingredients together with the rice, making sure every grain are coated with the seasoning. You can tell by looking at the color of the rice. Try to break apart any white rice chunks if there's any. 

Lastly, garnish the fried rice with some chopped chilies and cilantro leaves before serving. Noted I didn't use much salt for this recipe since the duck eggs are salty enough. However, I added just a little bit of soy sauce to boost the aroma. 

Usually I prefer to use additional seasonings when eating fried rice, such as Sriracha or homemade chili sauce, but not this time! The salted duck egg really adds lots of flavors so the fried rice is pretty good just the way it is.

Other fried rice recipe:

• Sirloin fried rice with crisp red onions and a hint of Japanese seasonings
• Fried rice level up - Japanese omurice recipe
• Fried rice with shirasu and tuna floss

Kimchi and Shirasu Fried Rice with a Hint of Shiso, and Of Course the Sinful Egg Yolk

Earlier last week I was making a sashimi appetizer and got a small pack of Japanese shiso leaves, which usually comes in 6 to 10 leaves. These leaves carry a distinct and almost perfume-like scent. Therefore, using one or two leaves usually go a long way for a simple dish. But what to do with the remaining leafy greens? 

You can use shiso as a wrap for barbecued meat, mix in onigiri (Japanese rice ball), and even add to creamy salmon spaghetti. However, this time, I'm going to pair the fragrant plant with one other pungent veggie - Korean napa cabbage kimchi. As expected, these two strong flavors actually complement each other quite well. You get that spicy kick at first bite but soon follow aromatic scent from the shiso leaves. Don't even mention the sinful sensation from the runny egg yolk.

Kimchi and shirasu fried rice with a hint of shiso -

Ingredients (for 3 to 4 portions)?

• 2 1/2 cups of steamed white rice
• 1 1/2 cups of napa cabbage kimchi
• 1 1/2 cups of shirasu
• 3 to 4 eggs
• 8 shiso leaves
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 to 4 red chilies
• 1 string of scallion
• 1 tablespoons of toasted white sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• Some olive oil
• Few dashes of sesame oil

How?

Freshly made or leftover steamed white rice are both fine for this recipe. I prefer using freshly steamed rice because it's easier to mix with the fried rice ingredients. Just remember to use less water when cooking the rice if intended to use it for fried rice right away. Otherwise too much liquid might left you with a smooshy mess in the end. 

Cut the scallion into thin strips diagonally, as thin and long as you can. Soak in icy cold water till they curl up then drain well. Pat dry and set aside for later use. 

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Roll up the shiso leaves and finely chop them. Discard the chili stems and finely chop the remaining. Chop the kimchi into bite size pieces.

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and turn to medium heat, add in chopped garlic. Cool till the aroma comes out but not burning the garlic, quickly add in the kimchi and chilies, cook for about 1 minute.

Turn to medium high heat. Add in shirasu and give it a quick stir. Pour in soy sauce from the sides of the pan, so the direct heat can further release the soy sauce aroma. Also add in the fish sauce. Cook for another minute.

Add the shiso and toasted white sesame seeds, mix with all the ingredients. Blend in the rice in two batches. Make sure no lumps or white grains present before plating. 

Use a non-stick pan, drizzle enough olive oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Turn to medium high heat. Wait till the oil gets hotter then break in one egg. Try to make a sunny side up egg with the yolk still runny in the center. Transfer the egg on top of the fried rice and serve with curled scallion strings. 

You can substitute shirasu with small pieces of chicken or fatty pork, both giving you comforting result. 

Other fried rice recipes:

• This time, no chicken eggs, but salted duck egg for Chinese fried rice
• Sirloin fried rice with crisp red onions and a hint of Japanese seasonings
• Fried rice with shirasu and tuna floss
• Fried rice level up - Japanese omurice recipe
• Karasumi fried rice

XO Sauce - Straight Up Condiment, Noodles Seasonings, How about Some Tasty Fried Rice?

XO sauce is one of the popular Asian sauces usually used as a condiment or mixed with dry noodles. It is also a common flavoring agent for fried rice. This sauce's main ingredients are dried scallops, dried shrimps, and red chilies. Imagine the aroma when mixed together with rice and heated up in a high temperature wok, simply mouth-watering.

XO sauce fried rice - 

Ingredients (for 3 to 4 portions)?

• 1 1/3 cups XO sauce
• 2 cups uncooked white rice or some leftover rice
• 1 stalk chopped scallion
• 3 tablespoons peeled and chopped shallots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Some cilantro

How?

Cook 2 cups of white rice using less water in order to get a chewier, harder texture. Leftover rice works really well since some of the moisture has already been evaporated after storing in the fridge for a day or two.

Drizzle some olive oil to a wok or to a big pan and turn to medium high heat. No need to use more oil since the XO sauce is quite oily already. Add in shallots, scallion, salt, and black pepper. Give it a quick stir and cook till the shallots turned slightly burnt -

Pour in the XO sauce but try to drain out some oil if possible, otherwise might end up with greasy fried rice. Let the high heat further brings out the aroma. Pour in some oyster sauce and mix well -

Mix in the rice and make sure every grain is coated with the sauce. Cook a little bit longer to draw out even more moisture.

Once ready, plate and garnish with some chopped cilantro -

Besides Asian recipes, XO sauce should also pair well with simple seared fish fillet or barbecued shrimps. Give it a try, you'll be in love with such a versatile sauce.

Other fried rice recipes:

• Uni and crab fried rice, pampered with extra fresh uni on top
• Light version: smoked salmon fried rice 煙燻鮭魚炒飯
• This time, no chicken eggs, but salted duck eggs for Chinese fried rice 鹹鴨蛋秋葵炒飯
• Kimchi and shirasu fried rice with a hint of shiso, and of course the sinful egg yolk
• Sirloin fried rice with crisp red onions and a hint of Japanese seasonings (蒜香味噌牛排炒飯)