I’ve always been a huge fan of rice — whether steamed or fried, it often made an appearance on the dinner table. It is most delicious when it’s just finished cooking right out of the pot, served piping hot. It was not uncommon to see me eating a huge bowl of it topped with several large spoonfuls of plain yogurt or topped with a chopped vinaigrette salad that I would mix in together with the rice. To me, this is simple comfort food that I continue to enjoy, even today.
My mother made the best fried rice and she taught me how to make it when I was very young. She would call me from work every day to tell me what she wanted me to prepare for dinner. Learning how to make this and a few other easy dishes was a great help to our family.
My dad always bought the Canilla brand long grain rice in the 25# bag, which would last the four of us for a few months. In the event that we would prepare our usual amount for a meal and there was some leftover, it never went to waste. We would use any leftovers to make things like arancine, or as a base for homemade veggie burgers. We would even add it to homemade bread for a lovely chewy texture or tossed it in soups or quickly made into rice pudding, especially if we also had some milk that needed to be used up.
One of my favorite things to make with leftover rice was a super delicious, high quality fried rice with whatever leftover meat and vegetables we had in the refrigerator. In the event that there was half of a wilted red pepper or a lonely, leftover hamburger patty, it was all cut up into pieces and tossed together for a quick lunch or dinner.
Over the years, the manic side of my personality wanted to nail down a recipe to provide some kind of guidance in how to make the perfect fried rice. Most of the time, I would make fried rice as an afterthought using leftovers — but now people were asking me how to intentionally make it for their family meals.
I came up with the 3-2-1 ratio which will yield the perfect combination of all of the ingredients. The number 3 refers to the number of cups of rice to use in the recipe, number 2 refers to the number of cups of mixed vegetables and the number 1 refers to the number of cups of protein to use. If you are a real meat lover, you can always add 2 cups of meat and 1 cup of mixed vegetables, but the quantity of rice should remain the same.
I have found that a selection of 3 different types of vegetables provides a nice mix and keeps things interesting in the dish. I often use mushrooms, finely chopped pieces of broccoli rabe, corn, peas, finely diced fresh carrots, spinach, asparagus – whatever you like, the sky is the limit. I prefer to use chopped up pieces of broccoli rabe, because their heads and stems are much smaller and more manageable to eat in this dish.
I also don’t like my vegetables to be cooked beyond recognition — so no mushy vegetables here please. They should still have a slight bite to them for some texture and to offer the best eating experience.
So, whether you are intentionally preparing a batch of fried rice, or simply using up some leftovers, remember to always make it memorable and make it delicious.
3-2-1 Fried Rice (serves 3-4 people)
3 cups plain cooked rice
2 cups finely diced mixed vegetables (use 3 types of vegetables for the best mix)
1 cup of diced meat
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sized onion, finely diced **or use some homemade onion strings
¼ to ½ cup olive oil
¼ cup of stock or water
Measure out the rice and the meat, and place it in a small bowl. Chop up the vegetables that you would like to use and place them in another large bowl.
I usually do this at the beginning of every week and then use up the vegetable mix throughout the week to toss into whatever I’m making – omelets, soups, pasta or rice. This time around, I chose some cremini mushrooms, fresh diced carrots and some broccoli rabe.
Add ¼ cup of oil to a large skillet and toss in your finely diced onion. If you are using some homemade onion strings, then omit this step but make sure to make your onion strings before you start putting the fried rice together. It comes together so quickly that you do not want to hold up your dinner because you are waiting on the onion strings – one or the other has to be in fried rice – it makes it so delicious. If you are making onion strings, toss them in at the last minute, right before serving.
Once the onion has become translucent and begun to take on a little caramel color, toss in your garlic and stir together until combined.
Next, toss in your 2 cups of fresh vegetables and combine well with the onion mixture, then add your stock (or water) and cover the skillet to quickly cook the vegetables.
When the vegetables have almost cooked and there is just a little moisture left in the skillet, toss in the rice, meat and the 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. I find this extra little bit of moisture left in the skillet helps to revive the rice, especially if the rice has been sitting in the fridge for a few days. If you see that it still needs a little moisture, you can add a few extra tablespoons of water or stock or some or all of the extra ¼ cup of oil. I usually find that it needs it for a lovely soft, rich texture.
Mix everything together with the vegetables and make sure that the rice is evenly coated with the soy sauce and mixed evenly with the vegetables. If you are adding the onion strings, toss them into the rice at this point or pour your fried rice into a large bowl and pile the onion strings on top of it. Serve warm.
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