As the alert will have spotted by now, I’m catching up on a backlog of the recipes I’ve tried out over the summer. So here’s another.

Fried Rice

Serves: 2
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• Mild vegetable oil of your choice
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 banana shallot or small onion, chopped
• 2 spring onions, sliced into rounds
• 4 large mushrooms, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 handfuls frozen peas, thawed in boiling water
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped fine
• 150g cold pre-cooked long-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce or more depending on taste
• Ground black pepper
• 150g leftover meat or prawns

What to do …

1. Heat the wok or large frying pan over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add about a tablespoon of oil.
2. Pour in the eggs and scramble. When just cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.
3. If needed, add a bit more oil. Add the onion, spring onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms and garlic. Cook just until the onion is just beginning to brown. Set aside with the egg.
4. Again, add a bit more oil of needed. Add the meat/prawns and cook for 5 minutes until hot through and beginning to brown.
5. Increase the heat and add the rice, soy sauce, egg, veg mix, peas and a good grind of black pepper. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until the rice is well hot throughout.

Notes

1. Make the rice ahead and chill before frying. The key is starting with chilled, day-old cooked rice that’s only just cooked.
2. Don’t use freshly cooked rice. If you try to use freshly cooked rice, it becomes overcooked and too soft.
3. Don’t make ahead of time and reheat. This will also result in overcooked rice.
4. If using frozen or raw prawns, be sure they get fully cooked through.