Dad's icky.......... Fried Rice...... Ammended

Fried rice with lamb – it’s one of those, I’ll give it a try but I don’t know if I’ll like it type recipe. I am not a huge fried rice fan, and it stems back to childhood – one of those really disgusting meals your parents would make – that make you gag….. I gagged a lot. My Dad would make this really awful fried rice, thing (literally pulling a face at the thought) rubbery rice, solid, black, from being burnt, peas (wondering about my aversion to peas now?) We would usually be served this culinary feast after a Sunday roast chicken dinner, my mum would cook it beautifully, then my Dad would come along and put it in his, fried rice killing it – Yuck!

I can’t begin to imagine what he did with it, but the end result was foul – crispy, dry, chewy stab your gums, chicken, with burnt icky peas. Worse than ALL that was the egg – usually added to early, resulting in over cooked egg with that glassy type of texture you get – hmmmm…… Now wondering if this is why I am so fussy about my eggs? Wow one dish has made me an awfully fussy eater – or one cook’s interpretation of fried rice has. This is my interpretation and to be fair it’s not too bad for fried rice.

Fried Rice With Lamb
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
300g lamb strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 julienned medium carrot
½ cup frozen peas
2 spring onions
A few broccoli florets
1 leek, sliced
1 cup snow peas, give or take
1 pouch of cooked rice
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a small bowl, mix together the eggs and a teaspoon of soy sauce.
2. Pour 1 tsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil) into a large skillet, or a wok if you have one. Place over a medium heat, when it’s hot, add the egg and the garlic; stir to scramble. Once the egg is set, take it out of the skillet or wok, making sure that you break up any big pieces. Take your skillet off the heat.
3. Pour the remaining oil into the skillet, and return to a medium heat. Stir fry the lamb, when it’s cooked remove from the pan and keep warm. Then add all your vegetables and stir-fry until crisp tender.
4. Finally add your cooked rice, lamb and soy sauce. Cook and stir for a few minutes until heated through and then add the egg and stir for 1 more minute.

Chinese?????

I made this next recipe because we love Chinese food, and I was feeling tentatively, apprehensive, about cooking something so 'exotic'. I was still at this point 11 months off buying my first and admittedly only 'Chinese cookbook' and it took a further 18 months or so before I had the guts to cook much else other than variations of this dish, which I will get to in another blog. So here you are - Chicken Stir Fry - Wow how exotic, right? Told you I started simple!

Chicken Stir Fry

3 tbsp evoo
4 scallions (spring onions) thinly sliced
3 carrots, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper seeded and cut into long, thin strips
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp port wine mixed with 1 tbsp corn starch
4 chicken breasts cut into strips
½ cup Vegetable stock

1. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok or skillet, add the scallions and stir fry for 1 minute

2. Add the remaining oil, carrots and pepper, and stir fry over a high heat for 2-3 minutes add soy sauce, port mixture and chicken strips and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the stock and continue stir frying for 1-2 minutes until liquid thickens slightly.


Our personal preference was that this needed a little more soy sauce - again I am only including the original recipe used, I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, recipes are a guide line we all like different flavours, textures and smells - so all I can do is tell you what I did where and why, you can then make the choice for yourself, more or less, or something else?