My Morning as Amateur MasterChef: Tasty Fried Rice from Leftover Rice

When hunger strikes and you can’t go out due to some reason only a smart or dumb move can save you from fainting (just kidding).  For all amateurs in kitchen, cooking is a lot of work.  You need luck and few tricks up your sleeve.  Many times we have a sizeable quantity of leftover rice left (luck part 1) which usually ends up being thrown out.

One fine morning I woke up early in a good mood, maybe because it was a holiday and finding nothing better to do with my time and feeling hungry I searched the fridge for something to pick up and eat.  It was my bad luck as there were few vegetables and everything else but nothing to eat right away.  Being somewhat ignorant to cooking I was searching shelves to instantly gratify my hunger and to be able to eat something right away.  But ended up finding nothing and at that time I remembered watching cooking shows for a whole different reason and came up with an idea. 

I could chop vegetables and stuff as I have been playing a ninja soldier all my childhood, also I can peel the skin off vegetables and stuff as I found out I was a natural at it (just kidding).  After all watching hot girls cook on TV teaches you a thing or two.  So after finding myself stuck with a bowl of leftover rice and few vegetables in the fridge my mind started going into Master Chef Mode!  I was looking at the stuff in front of me and searched the shelves in kitchen to find something that could help me find a quick recipe that could be made in few minutes and which tasted good.  On a bottle of sauce I saw a recipe for fried rice but it was a complicated one.  So I just copied the first 2 steps of adding teaspoons of oil in a pan and lighting the gas.

I had always a keen sense of taste so I knew what goes in fried rice plus you can see most of the stuff.  Now (luck part 2) you might find a packet of ginger/garlic paste or powder.  

 In my case I was not that lucky so I took ginger/garlic, tried in whichever way I could manage to clean up (half portions got thrown into dustbin) peeled the skin off and crushed them and made them into a rough paste.  Then I sliced 2 whole green chillies removing the seeds.  Next I chopped a few vegetables that could be cooked fast like capsicum (i.e., bell peppers), cabbage, potato, spring onions and I don’t remember the other vegetable.  But basically I had finished chopping in about 10 minutes or so. 

Now all I needed was to fry the onions in preheated pan with oil till they seemed pleasing to the eyes and smelt good.  Then stirring the onions I added green chillies and in a few moments I added the ginger/garlic paste.  Trust me you don’t want to wait long till you add these ingredients otherwise the whole thing starts smoking like hell and you would have burnt the wok and made a mess.  I forgot to mention (luck part 3) I found a bottle of soya sauce in the fridge and this I added to the mix, so after frying onion, chillies and ginger/garlic I added salt to taste (could say a pinch or two which sounds funny but only when girls say it) and soya sauce based on personal preference (don’t add this too much as it is too salty) and if you are not satisfied with this you can always add some spice mix from packets promoting themselves as adding flavour to your boring everyday food.

Soon after adding salt and sauce you start stirring again and then add chopped vegetables and stir them for 1 to 2 minutes.  Right now the whole thing looks dark and you might wonder if the whole thing just crashed and burned, but its ok.  Now take the rice and add in small portions and start stirring.  Now the thing starts looking somewhat similar to fried rice we all know.  Now taste a bit of rice and check if salt and other stuff is in balance, so that correction can be made then and there.  Now after 5 minutes stirring rice in the wok that feels like a workout add finely chopped cabbage to garnish and viola you have yourself a tasty delight.  Also you can try various combinations like carrots, beans, green peas and by replacing vegetables with scrambled eggs or pre-cooked chicken bits and adding your own spices and stuff based on personal preference.  I have personally added fried vegetables and eggs on different occasions.

Happy cooking (more like experimenting) and you might not win anything. But you will not be hungry and grumpy.  That satisfaction is unmatched!!!

PS:  When adding potatoes please make sure you either boil them or fry the sliced bits.  Don’t want to eat them raw and have an upset stomach.