FowlersFreeTime
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I missed the chance to submit this in the last recipe challenge, but still thought I would share it so others could see that a "common" recipe like Fried Rice has infinite variations! Everyone has a different spin on this classic, so here's mine. My fried rice is not a one-pot affair; every ingredient is given care and then combined in the wok before serving. My fried rice is also not a side-dish; it is the main course 
Fowler's Free Time: Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients (as prepared, serves 6)
Jasmine Rice (3 cups prepared)
Asian Pork Sausage (1 package... might be 1 lb, not sure)
Chicken thighs (1 lb)
Garlic (1 head, minced)
Soy Sauce (I like to have 2 on hand, a dark and a light or less-sodium. More on this later)
Sesame oil
Scallions (half a dozen stalks or so)
5 spice powder (1 tablespoon)
Oyster Sauce
Mirin
Minced ginger (or ginger powder if that's all you have on hand)
Eggs (6-8)
Optional ingredients:
Diced Onion
You will need:
A large Wok
A steamer basket in/over a pot of water
A pot or rice-cooker for the rice
A frying pan for the eggs
misc other cooking utensils and prep bowls
Step 1: Cook the white rice. Do this the night before and then spread on a tray to cool. Store in fridge until ready to cook. This helps to dry the rice out a bit and prevent excessive clumping when you're cooking.
Step 2: Prep the chicken. Cut the chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes, and marinate with minced garlic & ginger, dark soy sauce, 5 spice powder, mirin, and the sliced whites of your scallions. Give that a good stir and cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate a couple hours or until ready to cook.
Step 3: Steam the sausage. I can never read the labels on the various sausages I get from time to time in the local Asian market; sometimes they're in Thai, sometimes Chinese. Regardless, I steam them for 20 minutes to cook them so they are plump and some of the fat/oil gets released to the steamer and not my finished product. I slice them in rounds, 1/4 inch thick or thereabouts.
Step 4: Cook the chicken. In your Wok, heat up some oil of your choice. The oil can be regular vegetable oil, as sesame oil might lose some of its flavor if you cook with it. Stir fry the chicken, adding in a couple dashes of Oyster Sauce for additional depth of flavor. Take care not to overcook the chicken. Pour chicken and pan sauce into a bowl and set aside.
Keep the fire on, don't wipe out the wok.
Step 5: If you're adding some diced onions, you can add them to the wok now and get them a bit tender before you add the rice. This is the time to stir fry the rice, but to moisten it and add some flavor, I sprinkle on light soy sauce at this stage. Between the fond in the wok from step 4 and the soy sauce, your rice will be taking on a light brown color. If you have any minced garlic leftover, you could toss it into the wok now.
Step 5.5: On an adjacent burner scramble your eggs and ensure to break up the scrambles into smaller bits.
Step 6: Add the cooked chicken back to the wok, with all its pan sauce. Stir fry that mixture and make sure to coat all the rice. This is the source of most of the dish's umami and a deepening of the signature brown color.
Step 7: Add in your cooked, sliced, Asian sausage. Stir to combine.
Optional: you could sprinkle some sesame oil in the wok as you're stirring if you want the aroma of that sesame oil to enhance the dish.
Step 8: Stir in your scrambled eggs. We did this last so the eggs remain fluffy and do not get discolored by the soy sauce.
Garnish with sliced greens from your scallions and dig in!
Fowler's Free Time: Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients (as prepared, serves 6)
Jasmine Rice (3 cups prepared)
Asian Pork Sausage (1 package... might be 1 lb, not sure)
Chicken thighs (1 lb)
Garlic (1 head, minced)
Soy Sauce (I like to have 2 on hand, a dark and a light or less-sodium. More on this later)
Sesame oil
Scallions (half a dozen stalks or so)
5 spice powder (1 tablespoon)
Oyster Sauce
Mirin
Minced ginger (or ginger powder if that's all you have on hand)
Eggs (6-8)
Optional ingredients:
Diced Onion
You will need:
A large Wok
A steamer basket in/over a pot of water
A pot or rice-cooker for the rice
A frying pan for the eggs
misc other cooking utensils and prep bowls
Step 1: Cook the white rice. Do this the night before and then spread on a tray to cool. Store in fridge until ready to cook. This helps to dry the rice out a bit and prevent excessive clumping when you're cooking.
Step 2: Prep the chicken. Cut the chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes, and marinate with minced garlic & ginger, dark soy sauce, 5 spice powder, mirin, and the sliced whites of your scallions. Give that a good stir and cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate a couple hours or until ready to cook.
Step 3: Steam the sausage. I can never read the labels on the various sausages I get from time to time in the local Asian market; sometimes they're in Thai, sometimes Chinese. Regardless, I steam them for 20 minutes to cook them so they are plump and some of the fat/oil gets released to the steamer and not my finished product. I slice them in rounds, 1/4 inch thick or thereabouts.
Step 4: Cook the chicken. In your Wok, heat up some oil of your choice. The oil can be regular vegetable oil, as sesame oil might lose some of its flavor if you cook with it. Stir fry the chicken, adding in a couple dashes of Oyster Sauce for additional depth of flavor. Take care not to overcook the chicken. Pour chicken and pan sauce into a bowl and set aside.
Keep the fire on, don't wipe out the wok.
Step 5: If you're adding some diced onions, you can add them to the wok now and get them a bit tender before you add the rice. This is the time to stir fry the rice, but to moisten it and add some flavor, I sprinkle on light soy sauce at this stage. Between the fond in the wok from step 4 and the soy sauce, your rice will be taking on a light brown color. If you have any minced garlic leftover, you could toss it into the wok now.
Step 5.5: On an adjacent burner scramble your eggs and ensure to break up the scrambles into smaller bits.
Step 6: Add the cooked chicken back to the wok, with all its pan sauce. Stir fry that mixture and make sure to coat all the rice. This is the source of most of the dish's umami and a deepening of the signature brown color.
Step 7: Add in your cooked, sliced, Asian sausage. Stir to combine.
Optional: you could sprinkle some sesame oil in the wok as you're stirring if you want the aroma of that sesame oil to enhance the dish.
Step 8: Stir in your scrambled eggs. We did this last so the eggs remain fluffy and do not get discolored by the soy sauce.
Garnish with sliced greens from your scallions and dig in!
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