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
