We had been served simple yet tasty yellow rice in a private Chinese restaurant few weeks ago and since then I couldn’t stop experimenting how it was done. It has onion spring chops and small bits of egg shreds that looked like it has been stirred with it. It’s not salty at all. Not oily which is typical of northern Chinese fried-rice that made me think it was steamed and once cooked, mixed right away with egg and spring onion. And twice I did it exactly like that. Good but sticky unlike the one we had – firm, loose grains of perfectly cooked non-sticky rice… until I finally got it right!
I served the rice with fried tuna fish and fried aubergine slices. The latter, of course, is so easy and simple. Great as a side dish to anything fried. And oh I remember Brunei’s Pizza Hut has it at the salad bar! Haha icky? Maybe but I love ‘em!
Ingredients for the Stir-fried Rice:
2 1/2 cups of rice (I used Jasmine rice.)
1 egg sprinkled with salt, beaten
1 stalk of spring onion, finely chopped
Steam rice the way you always do with a rice cooker. When it clicks and totally cooked, open the lid for about 5 minutes until no longer steaming hot. Transfer the rice to a bowl fluffing the rice lightly with a fork.
When the rice is no longer hot and completely dry, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the cooked rice and stir-fry for a minute. Add the beaten egg and continue stir-frying until the egg is cooked into little shreds that mingle with the rice. Then add the spring onion and stir-fry for another minute.
Ingredients for Fried Aubergine Slices:
Aubergines
Olive oil (vegetable oil or cooking oil, it doesn’t really matter)
Cut the aubergines thinly while heating oil in a frying pan. Fry for about 5 minutes on each side until brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot. Dip the slices in soy sauce or Maggi Savor. Yum!
My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.
Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.
Very nice. I think the reason your rice was sticky could be that you’re not using long grain rice, too much water when boiling, or even poor quality rice cooker. Coming from a takeaway background I can tell you that you simply boil the rice, when it’s done, fry some whipped eggs in a pan, add rice, add spring onions, fry. Add salt/soy sauce for taste or colour.