I got a few comments on my last column about making salsa verde and hopefully a handful of you tried it out. Writing about it triggered me into picking up all the ingredients and making a nice 4 cup batch. I made the roasted tomatillo, garlic, and serrano pepper green salsa and then put it a Dutch oven with 3 pounds of large trimmed chunks of country style pork ribs (which are more or less pork shoulder cuts) Wow, was that amazing! I simmered it low for 5 hours and then devoured it for days.
Have you heard or read lately in the news about the secret of chilling rice or pasta? I won’t go into the whole thing here, but Google “rice nutrition super food.” We have all heard the bad news about rice and pasta being all bad carbs and spiking blood sugar and all that. It’s mostly true. BUT, if you chill cooked rice or pasta overnight, the process magically alters the sugar chain and creates a resistant starch that acts entirely different and makes it WAY more healthy. For real.
I was not aware of that fact, but it plays into one of my favorite meals to make and which is fried rice. Fried rice can be magical. It can also be a great way of cleaning up the vegetable bin in your refrigerator. Way back when, I struggled to make good fried rice because I did not know the cardinal rule. You must use chilled day-old rice. No exceptions. Maybe you all knew this, but because I never really sought out or followed a recipe (of course) I just thought you made rice, added a bunch of stuff and sort of re-fried it all in a pan. Always turned out sticky, icky, and mushy.
So with rule number one out of the way, the sky is the limit for creativity! We had in-laws down on the farm for Memorial weekend. I fried up some purchased Korean pork and vegetable potstickers with a soy/peanut/hoisin sauce that I made for an appetizer. I then got out my giant nonstick skillet for fried rice. A big pan is helpful.
I cubed up some left over pork tenderloin. I thawed about a dozen precooked shrimp and a slew of just about everything I had on hand. When stir frying or sautéing any mix of vegetables or ingredients, one always starts with the firmest or longest to cook first, right? So I put about 4 tablespoons of olive oil and few cloves of fresh minced garlic in the pan to begin heating up. I added some Spanish paprika and turmeric and a hefty pinch of crushed hot pepper. Everything was lightly simmering and fragrant.
With fried rice, you want to have everything prepped and sliced or chopped and ready to go. So, in the simmering oil I added sliced carrots because they take the longest. In fact, just about everything else goes hot and fast. I was prepared and ready with all of my favorite things: carrots, purple onion, chopped cilantro, raisins, chopped peanuts, a little bit of diced apple. I also chopped a small red, orange, and yellow sweet pepper. And don’t forget the pork and shrimp!
Fried rice is all about a little bit of a bunch of stuff, at least in my book. So with the carrots ready, I added about a tablespoon each of hoisin sauce and soy sauce and turned the heat up on high. Time to act fast. I kept the cooked shrimp out until very last so as not to overcook it. But with heat on high and the pan now sizzling, I added the onions, apples, and peppers. They really only take about a minute on high heat. I tossed in my chopped pork, cilantro, raisins and peanuts, stirring all the while. And with the heat on highest, I folded in my 4 cups chilled rice and stir, baby stir! Or flip, toss, fry, sauté, whatever you call it.
I like letting it rest about 20 seconds, letting the rice sear the bottom of the pan, then flip and toss some more. Let it sit, sear, not burn, and toss again repeating a super high heat frying. Before the last toss prior to serving I added the shrimp which I had cut in halves or thirds for size, and gave the hot mess another minute.
Boom! A big chopped mixed assortment of all your favorite goodies and your new starch resistant “good for you now” fried rice is ready to work its magic in your belly! Reach out anytime if I can answer questions or help! timb@catton.com
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