Fried Rice

I’ve previously talked about my employment at a popular Asian restaurant that shall remain nameless (hint:you find it in most rest areas across the country and it features a bear in its name.) I spent my first few weeks there solely making fried rice, which is a lot more complicated in large amounts than it seems. I never tried their fried rice, because it contained chicken broth, but I started replicating the recipe at home with great success.

The key to good fried rice is old rice, high heat and a well seasoned wok. It’s going to be really hard to achieve the latter two on a home stovetop, because most people don’t have restaurant style burners. Bearing that in mind, you can still make some pretty tasty rice. I use dark soy sauce because it gives the rice that rich, dark brown color. Feel free to use regular soy sauce, just increase the amount you use.

I love having a big bowl of this in my fridge, I sneak bites of cold rice throughout the day. It’s one of my ultimate comfort foods, especially with chili sauce or teriyaki sauce on the side.

Ingredients:
• 6 cups cooked brown rice, chilled overnight
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced ginger
• 1/4 cup neutral oil, canola or vegetable
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 8 ounces seitan sliced
• 2 cups chopped vegetables (zucchini, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, bok choy, etc)
• 2-3 tsp dark soy sauce mixed with 3 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:
1. Prep vegetables, seitan and mix together soy sauce and water.

2. Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add ginger, garlic, and onions. Saute for 1 minute and add seitan and mixed vegetables. Saute 4-8 minutes, until vegetables look cooked.
3. Add rice and sprinkle with salt. Break apart large clumps and add soy sauce mixture, stirring rice to get it fully coated.
4. Stir in peas and carrots over low heat and drizzle sesame oil and flax seeds over top.