Sunday, April 05, 2009

Fried Rice



My favorite fried rice was from a Thai restaurant in Philadelphia. What made it so special was that the vegies seemed a bit over sauteed and the rice in someplaces was a bit burnt. The secret was their wok was very very hot! I now found a teflon coated cast iron wok that retains heat incredibly well and yields the same flavor that I miss from those Thai days.

As in most stir fries, this dish will cook fast. So it's best to prepare all of your ingredients in advance.

Cook two cups of rice (preferably the night before. Make sure it's cool if you cook the rice the same day):
Rinse two cups of jasmine rice (this gets rid of the access starch and keeps the rice from becoming clumpy)
Add 3 cups of hot water (normally you would use 4 cups, but a little undercooked rice works best with fried rice), and birng to boil
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a small pan on the side, scramble two eggs, and place them in a bowl.

Heat your wok....be patient and let it really heat up....and keep it on high heat through out the cooking process.
Add 4 tablespoons of canola oil
When the oil is hot,
Add 1 large half-moon sliced onion, stir fry for 3 minutes
Add the following according to your taste after the onion
1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 thinly sliced green peppper
1 thinly sliced carrot
1 cup of chopped brocooli
Add the rice, in small batches, and mix with the veggies and make sure it's full coated with the juices
Add 1 cup of green peas and/or 1 cup of snow peas
Add the scambled egg
Stri fry it everything for two more minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
and 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir fry for one more minute and take of the heat
Mix in a cup of thinly sliced green onions
And serve

You can always ad shrimp in the stage where you add green peas if you like shrimp fried rice. Make sure not to add shrimp at the begining to avoid overcooking them.

Nova Lox- Simple, light, tasty summer breakfast



I love this simple combination bringing together the freshness of cucumbers and tomatoes together with salmon's rich smoked taste. I only wish we could easily find bagels in Turkey. My friend executive chef David Shipman smokes the salmon for us at his home in Istanbul....and I never imagined smoked salmon could taste this good until David home-smoked the first batch.

Toast a few slices of bread (or better yet bagels if you can get them)
Put a thin layer of cream cheese on the toasts
Garnish with thinly sliced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion
Place the salmon above them.
Add salt and pepper to taste and top with capers.
Enjoy