The topic this week on Hive top chef is fried rice.
When I think of fried rice, my imagination takes me back to the best fried rice moment of my life.
It took place in Koh Samui Thailand. I had gone many years ago to visit my birth country. I had lost touch with the culture having grown up in Canada since the age of four.
In Koh Samui I had become travel buddies with a boy from New Zealand. We spent every day for almost two weeks together. The first time we went for breakfast, we went to a small village and sat by the seaside. It was really early and the sun was still rising. The view and warm air were breathtaking as I sipped on a coffee and waited for breakfast.
Breakfast was fried rice. At the time I was not eating plant based and ate this fried rice which had chicken and egg on top. On this trip, I learned that bacon, eggs pancakes and toast were not breakfast items for Thai people. I was very happy about that because I was never really into traditional north American style breakfast.
Today I made a fried rice which allowed me to use up things I had in the fridge.
This is more of a Thai inspired fried rice although I am missing the fish sauce and the eggs which are important elements for traditional Thai fried rice. I have done my best to simulate the fish sauce and the egg.
I used less rice then usual. I am trying to keep this a little more vegetable heavy, since I have been lacking vegetables for the last couple of days.
Vegetable fried rice
2 cups leftover jasmine rice (cold)
1 cup broccoli
1 diced carrot
1 cup diced onion
3 or 4 cloves mince garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 or 2 cups chopped mushroom (Shitake would be good)
3 cups nappa cabbage
1/2 diced red bell pepper
1 cup peas
1 cup diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons soy sauce
juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon miso paste
1 tablespoon pepper
1 teaspoon sambal olek (I ran out of red chilies)
3 green chillies minced
1 green onion chopped
1 teaspoon ground shitake/dulse or nori mix (fish sauce substitute)
1 tablespoon pickled radish minced
sunflower oil for frying and a dash of sesame oil
For the vegan scrambled egg I used soy skin. I had never purchase these dried bean curd rolls before. I didn't see them ever until the other day. It was a random purchase. I wasn't sure what to do with these particular kind so I thought they could be soaked and used as the egg. They softened in seconds.
Vegan egg
2 cups bean curd skin
sprinkle of black salt
minced garlic
I happened to have black salt which is commonly used as an egg flavoring for vegan egg. It is very sulphuric which actually smells like boiled eggs. It is much saltier then regular salt so not much is needed. I simply fried the soy bean skin with garlic then set aside for the garnish.
After frying onions, garlic, ginger, peppers and nappa cabbage, add the rice and other ingredients. Mix well with the seasoninings. Add additional lime juice if you like it.
I added the bean curd skin egg on top and some extra garnish.
Roasted peanuts, cucumbers, tomato and cilantro, add extra flavor and fresh taste to the rice dish.
Fried rice is usually a side dish in general, but with several ingredients it works very well as a meal on it's own. I couldn't eat another thing after this.
The tofu skin was the perfect scrambled egg substitute. It was also a good enough protein that I didn't bother adding tofu to the dish. It would have been too much for me.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
