I love this chipped little bowl I found at a neighborhood thrift shop for 99 cents! It's perfect for leftover rice tossed with some vegetables and locally caught Maine shrimp, and dressed in a light, salty sauce.
Below is the basic formula I use for fried rice. It's pretty versatile. You can use shrimp or no shrimp. Sprouts or no sprouts. Substitute in the seasonal veggies of your choice. Use onions if you have no scallions. The only real rule is that you need to use leftover rice. If you use rice you just made for the occasion, it will surely be soggy. No, make a big batch of rice for a stir-fry one night, and then turn the leftover remnants encrusted in your rice cooker into fried rice the next day. That way, you can make a second meal with minimal effort.
Shrimp Fried Rice
If you like your fried rice to be brown, add more soy sauce--just hold the salt in that case.
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups whole scallions, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
¾ lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1½ cups frozen peas (fresh if you have it, parboiled for 2 minutes)
5 cups cooked rice, chilled, broken up with a fork
2 cups mung bean sprouts
Sauce
2 Tbsp. chicken broth (or water)
2 Tbsp. rice wine (or other white wine)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
In a small bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside.
In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Beat the eggs, then stir-fry them about 30 seconds to scramble. Add the minced scallions and ginger, and stir-fry one minute. Add the shrimp and peas, tossing for a few minutes. Add half of the bean sprouts and all of the rice, stir-frying and continuing to break up any clumps. When the rice is heated through and the shrimp have turned pink and coiled, add the sauce. Mix well and remove from heat. Toss with remaining bean sprouts and serve.
Source: Adapted from A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simonds.
Local Ingredients:
Shrimp: Cape Ann Fresh Catch, Gloucester, MA
Eggs: Chip-In Farm, Bedford, MA
