Sometimes it’s important to do things more than once. You know what I mean? Like can you ever visit Las Vegas just once? Come on.
You look twice; when you have to cross the road, or see a voluptuous woman in a form fitting dress WITH underwear lines. You can’t help it. You do a double take.
Do you brush your teeth once a day? Absoluletly not.
Do you impeach Donald Trump one time? Of course not.
Take it easy…I’m not going there.
Do you read over your blog post one time prior to publishing? No. You don’t. You read it until you’re blue in the face. And then your husband looks at you, not once, but at least twice, WHY? Because your face is blue…Cyanosis? Wine stained lips?
You didn’t get there by taking one sip of wine. You took one, then two, and more likely a heck of a lot more than that. Don’t be judgy. Wine is delicious.
Anyway, there are lots of events, circumstances and opportunities we embark on more than once. And fried rice is on the menu, often….so…
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas and eating at China Poblano – José Andrés’ Mexican and Chinese fusion restaurant*. Can you guess what I ate?
News flash. It was fried rice – with a billion vegetables. And going forward, it was my inspiration for tonights all in feast.
Boredom lies in weak, frozen carrot and pea pieces. And this was not a sad soppy soy soaked supper.
So now, I’m doubling down.
This is no ordinary fried rice. It too has more than 20 veggies.
You get to play the big blind and figure out what I used.
(Or you could just read the ingredient list…but I think that’s considered cheating).
Feeds 4; Takes 30 min (minus rice cooking time)
Ingredients for My 20 Veggie Fried Rice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumb size nub of fresh ginger, minced
- 1 handful baby portobellos, sliced
- 1-2 handfuls shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped (fibrous ends removed)
- 1/2 cup broccolini heads
- 1 endive head, sliced
- 1/2 of 1 leek, sliced and washed
- 1/3 red onion, small dice
- 1 red bell pepper, small dice
- 2 scallions, sliced
- 1/3 medium eggplant, cubed
- 1/2 handful basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 4-5 sprigs cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 jalapeño, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, small dice
- 1 parsnip, peeled, and chopped small
- 1 heirloom carrot, peeled and chopped small
- 1/2 poblano pepper, small dice
- 1/3 small green cabbage, shredded
- 1/3 small red cabbage, shredded
- 4-5 eggs
- 4 tbsp butter (divided)
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp ground garlic
- 3 cups cooked white rice, chilled (I used Basmati)
- 3 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 tbsp + more soy sauce
- 1-2 splashes mirin
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp sambal (use less if you don’t want it too spicy)
- sweet chili sauce (optional)
Method
A day ahead (or earlier in the day) cook 1 1/2 cups rice in chicken stock or water with a pinch of salt and allow to cool. This will yield about 3 cups cooked rice.
When ready to cook, heat your wok or large skillet with 2 tbsp butter and canola over medium/high heat until hot. Add hard veggies (carrots, parsnip, onion, peppers, leeks) and a hefty pinch of salt. Stir and cook for 3-4 min.
Add softer veggies (mushrooms, broccolini, endive, cabbages) and cook for another 1-2 min.
Add garlic, ginger and half of scallions. Stir.
In a separate nonstick pot, scramble eggs on low heat, with a pinch of salt and remove from heat while still ‘wet’.
Add second two tbsp butter, rice and all sauces. Stir, taste and adjust seasonings as you like.
Add eggs and cook another minute.
Serve and top with rest of scallions and sesame seeds.
I’m betting the house. And I’ll wager that you’ll make this feast more than once.
Other ideas
You can use any plethora of veggies you like – bok choy, baby corn, lemongrass, daikon, and oyster mushrooms would all be delish.
Oyster and fish sauce is also widely used in fried rice (but the Cuban has pretty severe allergies, so we omit).
*This was my 6th time to Vegas. And I can’t wait to go back.
Looking for more Asian inspired meals? Momosan Seattle is Iron Chef Morimoto’s newest addition..and although it’s in Seattle, he does have his namesake “Morimoto” in the MGM Grand. Staying in? You can make my Chinese Crunch Salad with Scallion Sesame Vinaigrette and Eggplant Croutons?
