Fried rice is one of my favourite comfort food. It is tasty yet easy to whip up. It is also my fallback dish when I run out of ideas for the next meal. I like my fried rice flavorful and spicy. Through countless (and failed!) attempts in the past years, I've somehow bastardized it into a fairly acceptable version which is a cross between Chinese and Malay flavours. Think Yangzhou fried rice and Nasi Goreng (I adapted loosely from here).
Unless I have leftover char siu ( barbecued pork) which is rarer than rare, I almost always only use ham (or luncheon meat but it's canned) because it is savoury and also juicy enough to add a little moisture to the otherwise dry dish. Other farmyard friends such as chicken or pork, I try to steer clear from as they tend to further lend an aridity which ensues in the seasoned rice tasting like sand. Okay, I exaggerate but you get my drift. While peas are a common sight in this stir fry, I find it a bully. Its sweetness too dominant. As replacement, green beans are roped in to provide that healthy extra crunch and I proudly announce they do their job damn pretty well.
The next ingredient is the backbone of this dish: sambal chilli paste. Blend fresh chilli, garlic, shallots, dried shrimps (only when I'm up to it to dash to the basement to grab a handful) and oil to get the blades moving. Stir fry the mixture over medium low heat, add a small amount of sugar to balance out the flavours and season with salt. The robust paste infuses such mouth-watering piquance into the rice that it's hard to stop at just one bowl of spicy fluffiness. The absence of it becomes unthinkable: the rice doesn't pack a punch and lacks layers of depth.
If you prefer a more fancy-pants and substantial kind of fried rice, add prawns. Its succulent and firm flesh adds a right amount of oomph that makes you go hmmmm.... Oh, and don't forget those eggs!
No comments:
Post a Comment