Quick, yummy, and ohmygoodness, healthy recipes: Chicken fried rice

2010-4-28

Chicken Fried Rice

I've posted some version of this recipe before, without the chicken and with shiitake mushrooms. Want to look at that recipe? Click here.

Here's what I'm providing in this post, should you prefer a fresher read, a more abridged recipe, followed by a photo essay of what I made yesterday.

I made this for a group of people (eleven people total, I think) that came to my house. I neglected to take into account that this was a pot luck. Moreover, I am accustomed to cooking in large quantities; this probably has 14-16 servings. Yup. The photo essay stops abruptly, because I was late as a hostess and company had already started to arrive. Oh, and my other confession is that the rice ended up being a bit drying than my liking.

The abridged recipe - Chicken Fried Rice:

Ingredients:

5 cups of medium grain rice (measured b/f cooking).
1 small package of frozen mixed vegetables.
a few cloves of garlic, diced
half a cup of chicken broth (ish).
6 eggs.
soy sauce.
sea salt.
chicken breast, cut into small pieces.
modest amount of olive oil.

Instructions:

Cook the rice separately; I used a rice cooker, so I wouldn't have to constantly monitor it on the stove and worry about it burning. Microwavable rice is simply not an option for me. Once the rice is done, dump in a large pot.

In a pan, place some garlic and olive oil inside, and turn the stove just under medium heat. Once the garlic starts sizzling and smells wonderful, stir fry the egg, adding a touch of sea salt. Once the egg is done, add it to the rice. Gently stir the rice and egg concoction. Repeat the garlic and olive oil, a bit of sea salt, add to pot process with the chicken and the frozen vegetables separately (the chicken and then the vegetables). Make sure the fried rice is mixed well and serve.

Unabridged Version of the Recipe for Chicken Fried Rice:

Ingredients:

5 cups of medium grain rice. Oh, how rice is a vital part of my everyday meals.

This rice cooker is a piece in the kitchen that gets a lot of wear and tear. I'm usually cooking rice in it at least twice a day. I do so love freshly cooked medium grain rice.

Six eggs.

Frozen vegetables. After all, part of this blog's title is "quick." At some point, I need to make good on that part of the title. No washing or cutting of vegetables necessary as a result of this ingredient. Yay!

Cloves of garlic. I happened to use five yesterday. I enjoy garlic so much, I have a hard time remembering there are people who don't appreciate it so much.

Olive oil. Only enough to keep the eggs or chicken breast from sticking to the pan. No more than a few (perhaps a couple) of tablespoons necessary.

Sea salt. A modest amount.

Soy sauce. Just enough to give some of the rice color. I believe we, the average Americans, have become a bit too accustomed to drowning our foods in saltiness, sweetness, or some other variation of flavor. That sort of practice not only is bad for our health, but that doesn't give us a chance to enjoy the natural flavors of the ingredients (i.e. the chicken, eggs, or vegetables). As tempting as it might be, I highly recommend going lighter (read, less) on the soy sauce; don't let people be confused and believe you're using brown colored rice because you drowned the rice in soy sauce).

Chicken broth. I added just a bit when stir frying the vegetables. I hadn't washed the pan after frying the eggs or chicken, to maintain the flavor of what had been cooked previously.

Frozen chicken breast. I'm doing things on a tight budget. So, I buy chicken breast when it's on sale and that usually means it's sold in a family size. Once i buy it, I cut and slice it immediately, separate it into smaller bags, and freeze it.