Pork Fried Rice

This is a recipe that I like for the simple fact that it uses a variety of vegetables. I love vegetables and any dish that has a multitude of veggies is always a favorite. It’s also a great way to use leftover white rice, which I always seem to make too much of. If you have a pressure cooker, then definitely try my Pressure Cooker White Rice recipe.

I made this Pork Fried Rice with homemade Char Siu Pork Chops which is an Asian style BBQ pork. I didn’t have a set recipe and I’m sure it’s not authentic, but it was absolutely delicious. I mixed up the marinade with a little red food coloring and put the pork in the marinade overnight in my refrigerator. The next day I slow roasted the pork on a baking sheet in my oven. I don’t have a roasting rack so I used aluminum foil pieces that I crinkled together into strips to keep the pork up off of the pan so that it wouldn’t steam.

The rice was leftover white rice that I had in the freezer. Frozen rice is an excellent option for stir fry recipes because it’s dryer and helps with the texture. The fried rice texture will be more authentic because the frozen rice isn’t damp so it has a chance to actually fry instead of steam.

I always make my fried rice with leftover rice, but if you only have freshly cooked rice a trick that I learned years ago from watching the famous television chef, Ming Tsai, is to spread the freshly cooked rice out on a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer while you prep everything and cook the first part of the meal.

One important step in any stir fry recipe is to have everything prepped and ready to go. Stir fry recipes cook quickly and at a high temperature. I portion everything out into bowls, to include my cracked eggs.

I don’t use a lot of oil in my cooking because years ago we decided to make healthy changes as a family. If you find that the dish needs a little more oil, add it as you cook. By not adding a lot of oil in the beginning your dishes will naturally wind up healthier. Also, a couple of tablespoons of water are always a great way to help to keep food from sticking to the pan.

I hope that you’ll try this recipe today and that you’ll leave a comment below. Also, please follow @lifeabovethecafe on Instagram and Facebook. You will find the links to both of my accounts below.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cooked rice
• 3 pork chops, cooked & diced
• 1/2 medium white onion, diced
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 – 2 carrots diced (1 cup)
• 1 – 1 & 1/2 cups of frozen peas, thawed
• 2 – 3 large eggs, cracked and mixed
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 1 – 2 Tbsp. of Soy Sauce
• 1 – 3 Tbsp. of oil (vegetable or canola)
• optional – black pepper & red pepper flakes

Directions:

This recipe is enough for 4 but make adjustments for your family.

I made my pork chops in the oven after marinating them in a Char Siu style sauce.  My directions are in a separate post for that recipe.

Wash and dice all of the vegetables up into 1/4 inch sized pieces, similar to the size of the peas.  Set all of the vegetables aside.

Thaw the frozen peas in a small bowl in the microwave for 1 – 2 minutes.  I add one to two tablespoons of water to keep the peas from drying out.  Drain the water off of the peas and set them aside.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl and mix them thoroughly.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat 1 Tbsp. of vegetable oil.  Add the carrots, bell peppers, and onions and cook them for 3-4 minutes.  Move the vegetables off to the side of the pan and add 1 – 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and then pour in the eggs and scramble them for a minute or until cooked through.  Mix the eggs with the vegetables.

If needed add a little more oil to the pan (I didn’t need any).

Add the rice to the pan and mix it until it’s incorporated with the vegetables and eggs.  Next, add the peas that have been thawed and mix them into the rice and vegetable mixture.  At this point I add 1 Tbsp. of soy sauce and cook everything for 1 – 2 more minutes.

Finally, add the minced garlic and the cooked pork.  Stir the fried rice up well, scraping any rice from the bottom of the pan.  Taste it and add more soy sauce.  I taste the rice mixture as I go rather than measuring out my Soy Sauce.  I can tell by the color and taste of the rice.  Adjust for your particular desired flavor.  I usually never need more than 2 – 3 Tbsp. of soy sauce for this amount of rice.  If you are using black pepper or pepper flakes add them to the fried rice and mix everything thoroughly to distribute the pepper.  Cook the fried rice for one to two minutes or until the meat is heated through if you are using refrigerated meat.

If you notice the rice is steaming turn your heat up, also if it starts to stick too much add a little more oil or a Tbsp. of water and turn your heat down a little.  There’s a balance to the heat on the stove being high enough and not burning the rice, but also cooking it at too low of a temperature will result in steamed rice.  If you don’t have a large pan make this fried rice in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.

Serve the fried rice with diced green onions, extra soy sauce, Thai chili sauce, Yum Yum sauce, or eat it as is.

 

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