Today, I’m sharing a recipe in honor of my grandma. She passed away earlier this week and I wanted to take some time to honor her memory. One of the dishes my grandma made all of the time for my brothers and I growing up was fried rice. She always ensured we had food to eat when we returned home from school each day. Fried rice is very nostalgic for me and is a dish I associate with my grandma. It is the one dish she and my family made whenever they wanted to use up any leftover meats and vegetables from the refrigerator. Fried rice itself is also a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. It is as much science as it is art to create the perfect fried rice. Even though it is very difficult to achieve good fried rice at home, I still vividly remember the fried rice my grandma used to make. She would always add lap cheong, scallions, onions, carrots, and green peas to her fried rice. Overtime, I began to add my own spin to her fried rice by changing up the protein and the ingredients within the fried rice. One version of fried rice I often make at home is bacon and egg fried rice. The smokiness of the bacon enhances the other elements of the fried rice. Bacon and egg fried rice is not only easy to make, but also has a great flavor profile. Over the weekend, I made another version of fried rice, which turned out just as good. I made a mushroom and miso fried rice using miso paste and shiitake mushrooms. The trick to the depth of flavor in this fried rice was the miso paste combined with the browned shiitake mushrooms. I divided the rice in half and kept the first half as just mushroom and miso fried rice. With the other half of the fried rice, I tossed in some diced leftover sweet and sticky spare ribs. The combination of all of the ingredients in the fried rice along with the sweet and sticky spare ribs reminded me of my favorite char siu fried rice. My love of fried rice stems in part from eating the fried rice my grandma used to make for me throughout my childhood.
Mushroom and Miso Fried Rice:
· 1 tablespoon miso paste
· 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
· 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ½ teaspoon white pepper
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 8-10 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
· ½ onion, finely diced
· 3 stalks scallions, thinly sliced
· ½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
· 2 cups jasmine rice, cold and overnight
Directions:
1) In a small bowl, combine the miso paste, soy sauces, peppers, and sugar. Set aside.
2) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Toss in the shiitake mushrooms and diced onion. Cook until the mushrooms are browned and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the scallions and green peas. Cook for another minute.
3) Add in the cold rice and let the rice cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add the bowl of sauce. Stir all of the ingredients together to ensure they are coated in the sauce. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Serve as is or with your favorite hot sauce.
Takeaways: Fried rice is one of the most versatile dishes you can make. You can pretty much swap in any protein and vegetables you have in your refrigerator. My grandma typically adds lap cheung to her fried rice. I didn’t have lap cheung, but I did have some leftover spare ribs, so I added some diced spare ribs to Kevin’s bowl of fried rice.
