Autumn Fried Rice

Old, cold rice is usually the recommended base of good fried rice, and from there it is really all about your imagination....or what else is left over in your fridge. When you're cooking for two, you are often left with some weird amounts of leftover dishes and ingredients, which never really add up to a real meal unless you eat all your leftovers from various meals in one sitting. Fried rice is a solution to that. This autumn fried rice combination was the result of leftover lap xuong that I purchased to make xoi; one lonely beet and some kale that I used in a seasonal meal I made for Tyler's parents; rice I made a few days ago to go with some Trader Joe's frozen teriyaki chicken when I was lazy; a soy dipping sauce I made for some dumplings; and some leeks that I had leftover from this breakfast casserole. Who knew all these things would taste amazing together?!

The hiccup in this recipe is the soy dipping sauce -- I don't remember the proportions I used. It's a mix of soy sauce, water, white sugar, chili sauce (tuong ot), white vinegar, and sliced ginger.  Other than that, this is pretty straightforward (and so seasonally tasty!).

(makes 2 hearty servings)

1 bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped

1 golden beet, peeled and chopped (chopped firm persimmons might be great too!)

1 lap xuong sausage, halved and sliced 

1 egg

1 tbspn. water

Salt + pepper 

1 leek, light green/white portion chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/2 tbspn. vegetable oil, plus a little more to fry the egg 

About 3 cups of cold leftover rice (it just depends on what you like your ratio of rice to be in comparison to the other ingredients, or however much rice you have on hand)

Beat the egg with 1 tbspn. water and a pinch of salt. Heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a pan (or wok). Pour the egg in and cook in one layer, like a pancake. Flip once. Remove and set aside to cool. 

Heat 1/2 tbspn. vegetable oil in the same pan. Add the lap xuong and cook until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to soak up the oil. Add the leeks and onion to the pan and sautee until translucent. Add the beets. Cook for about 5 minutes, until almost the desired doneness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the kale and sautee until wilted. Add the rice, breaking it up and tossing it with the vegetables. Slice the egg into strips. Add 1/4 cup of the soy sauce mixture and toss until everything is well coated. Add more soy sauce to taste. Top with freshly ground black pepper.

Linkipe: "Ham + Cheese" Breakfast Casserole

Two good friends of mine got married last night (yay!). I love weddings and I was especially excited about this one, all the more so because I knew there was going to be lots of dancing and drinking into the wee hours of the morning. I knew today would be a lazy day and I wouldn't have the energy to cook anything, so I prepped as much as I could yesterday afternoon. I washed and cut up some berries, I made a lemon vinaigrette for a simple salad to go with our brunch, I purchased an abundance of beverages to help us rehydrate, and I made a breakfast casserole which I could pop into the oven this morning + let cook while I curled back up in bed.

This casserole was really easy to throw together, and the substitutions I made based on what I had on hand did nothing to diminish its deliciousness! I used leeks instead of onions, old baguette instead of challah bread -- still yummy. Good recipe to master before the holidays...

Cheater's Wonton Noodle Soup Broth

This morning I had a craving for something warm and brothy. Asian breakfasts are a little different than the standard American breakfast -- I would say there are very few Asian dishes that are known as breakfast specific dishes. Noodle soups, porridge, meat pies, pastries -- these are all things that can be eaten throughout the day. So having a noodle soup for breakfast is not uncommon. (Having ramen as a snack is not that uncommon either -- it's a miracle I don't weigh more considering my childhood eating habits) A while back, I had leftover filling from the curried turnovers and I used it as wonton filling and threw it into the freezer. This morning was the perfect opportunity to turn them into breakfast.

Just like the cubes I mentioned in my cheater's pho ga recipe, there are special seasoning cubes for wonton soup. "Hoanh thanh" is the Vietnamese translation of wonton (sound it out, it makes sense). I am not listing any specific measurements because this is really something to adjust by taste, and depending on how many bowls you're making. For the broth, a good rule of thumb is to start out with one cube, taste, then add more as needed. As for the toppings, it just depends on what ratio you want. My mom likes more broth than toppings, my dad wants as little broth as possible and lots of toppings. It's flexible.

The soup base is not really the star of this dish -- what makes this kind of soup is the toppings. Some good combinations which you can use with this broth:

Roasted duck + bok choy + duck egg
Roasted pork + bok choy + bean sprouts
Chicken + garlic chives + bean sprouts
Dumplings + bean sprouts + scallions
Tofu + shitake mushrooms + napa cabbage + garlic chives + bean sprouts

You get the idea. You can get adventurous and add chorizo + garlic chives + bean sprouts too -- a little fusian cuisine. If you follow a formula of protein + something crunchy, it'll work. This morning I used wontons + tons of garlic chives + a boiled egg on top of shrimp egg noodles.

That all being said, this isn't a typical recipe. For people who are used to cooking like this, stop reading. You probably stopped a while ago the first time you rolled your eyes and said "duh". For those who have never made this soup on their own before, keep reading to see how super easy it is and have fun throwing this together throughout the winter.

Ok I'll stop talking. Time for cooking.

(for 2 servings)

1 hoanh thanh seasoning cube
16 oz. chicken stock
2 cups of water
An egg based noodle
Wontons

Suggested condiments: Lemongrass chili oil (pictured below); white or red wine vinegar

Bring a mixture of the seasoning cube, water and chicken stock to a boil. Taste -- if too salty, dilute with water. If not flavorful enough, try adding more chicken broth.

In a separate pot, bring some water to boil. Cook the noodles according to the package directions. If using wontons, cook them in this separate pot as well. Place your toppings + noodles in a bowl, ready for its broth. I wouldn't suggest cooking these things in the broth itself -- sometimes it makes the broth murky.

Ladle the broth over the noodles + slurp.