Stir-Fried Rice

On a nice Saturday morning, you wake up late, when the sun is so high in the sky and you feel unbelievably hungry. You open the fridge to see what good food you could have and realize there’s just nothing… You see a few eggs left, some mushrooms, a cucumber and some leftover plain rice from the night before. You open the freezer and see a little bit of frozen Edamame and corn. Then it all clicks in your head, and you know exactly what you should make for a comforting quick and easy brunch: STIR-FRIED RICE! 😉

Ingredients

• Rice
• Minced garlic
• Chopped cucumber
• Chopped mushrooms
• Spring onion
• 3 eggs
• Frozen Edamame beans
• Frozen corn
• Salt and pepper
• Oil
• Soy sauce

Instructions

• Fill a small pot of water and wait till it boils
• Add the frozen Edamame beans with some salt and cook for 3-4 minutes
• When done, let it cool a bit, then remove the beans from their pods(shells) and keep them in a bowl
• Lightly beat the eggs with salt and pepper in a bowl
• Heat your wok and add 2 tablespoons of oil, and when hot enough, pour the egg in to make an omelette
• Tear the omelette with your spatula into small pieces and remove from wok
• Turn the heat up on the stove; add oil again and fry your garlic until lightly brown (garlic is optional)
• Toss the frozen corn, mushrooms, cucumber in the wok and stir fry for a few minutes
• Add some salt and pepper
• Add the cooked rice, preferably from the night before and mix everything thoroughly together with some soy sauce until all ingredients and rice are well blended
• Add the omelette egg back into the pan. Mix again and spread some minced spring onions on the rice.

Tadaaaaaaaaaaa! 😀

How to make good rice:
Bring 2 1/4 cups water to boil in medium saucepan. Add rice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until water is absorbed, for about 20 minutes.
It’s best to use rice that was made the day/night before because freshly cooked rice would be too hot, soft and sticky… unless you like your stir-fried rice mushy 😛

Sushi – Maki Rolls

If there’s one type of food that I need to pick to eat for the rest of my life, it would probably be sushi! 😛 Well I’ve never really tried to eat sushi everyday, but I like it so much that I feel I can eat it everyday. That’s lots of carbs though… Anyhow I’ve always wanted to make sushi at home, but getting the rice right was the part that scared me the most, so I’ve always been delaying it, until my birthday this year, I finally gathered all my courage, coupled with the encouragement and enthusiasm of my awesome friend Sarah. We finally got around to making them for my birthday evening.

We decided to keep it simple, since it was our first attempt. So there was no fresh fish, instead we used smoked salmon.

 

 

Ingredients: Japanese Rice, Rice Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Seaweed (nori), Avocado, Mango, Cuccumber, Crab sticks, Smoked salmon, Japanese Omelette, Lettuce leafs (Arugula), Sesame seeds, Wasabi, Soya sauce

Instructions:

• Measure 2 cups of sushi rice (Enough for 4 rolls)
• Rinse the rice well under running water until water is almost clear (not milky white anymore)
• Drain the rice in a sieve and leave it for about 15-20 minutes
• Add 2 1/4 cups of water and let the rice soak for a bit
• Add the pot of rice to the stove and bring it to boil over medium heat
• Lower the heat and let it cook for 10 more minutes
• Apparently it is important to open the lid while the rice is cooking
• Remove the pot from the stove and let it rest
• Open the lid and let it cool down
• When it is warm and not hot anymore, move the rice to a big bowl or plate
• Add 1/4 cup of sushi vinegar, sugar and salt and mix well with a wooden spoon
• Fan the rice while mixing

When the rice has cooled down to room temperature, it is now time to make the sushi makis.

• Put a seaweed sheet (nori) on a rolling mat, with the rough side facing upwards
• Dip your hands in water
• Take a handful of rice and place it in the middle of the nori sheet and start spreading equally everywhere
• Add any ingredient you want to use (could be slices of avocado, mango and salmon)
• Roll the maki, press, and roll again to ensure it’s tight and smooth
• Use a sharp wet knife to cut the roll into little pieces

You’re done!! Dip in soya sauce and wasabi mix and enjoy!

P.s My favorite roll was the Mango Avacodo Smoked salmon roll! It was very flavourful!
If you want to pack some rolls for lunch the next day, make sure to not cut the rolls yet, and make the rice a little softer, otherwise it will be dry and hard the next day.