Chicken Fried Rice

Justin loves Chinese food more than probably any other type. (I, on the other hand, could eat Mexican food until I pop.) The beauty of Chinese food is that it's so cheap and can be found in abundance here; therefore, we don't make it at home very often. Justin's been asking for fried rice lately though, and I can't help but oblige.

You can put pretty much whatever elements you want into your fried rice, but for me, the required elements are onions, peas, carrots, and scrambled eggs. The veggies can be fresh, frozen, or canned, depending on what you like. For our meal, the onions and baby carrots were fresh, and the peas were canned. Justin also added some canned baby corn to his portion. Do what makes you happy.

The other key to fried rice is that you need to use cold rice. It comes out too sticky if you used freshly cooked, hot rice. If you want even more flavor, you could also toast the rice in a bit of oil for a few minutes before boiling it, but it isn't necessary. In smaller portions, this could be used as a side dish for a Chinese entree, but we just made a meal out of it by serving larger portions with some egg drop soup.


Ingredients

4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 lb chicken breast, diced
1/2 c diced carrots
1/4 c diced onion
1/2 c peas
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
5 c cooked rice, chilled
4-5 tbsp soy sauce


Directions

Heat 1 1/2 tbsp of oil in a large pot or wok over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook through. Add carrots and onions, and cook for 2 minutes. Add peas and garlic, and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, add 1/2 tsp of oil to a small pan. Crack eggs into a bowl and beat vigorously; then add to pan and scramble until almost done, stirring frequently. (For the smallest curds, use a chopstick to stir the eggs as they cook.)

Add rice, scrambled eggs, and remaining oil to chicken mixture, and stir well to break up any clumps and coat rice evenly with oil. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add soy sauce, stirring well, and cook an additional minute.


Servings: 5