The CookMobile » Grains

Garlic Fried Rice

Lalaine — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:26:58 +0000

After years of steadfastly believing conjugal life is the beginning and end of all things, and months of shamelessly bemoaning the demise of mine over the world wide web, the day has come when I am ready to say and mean: SINGLEDOM IS BLISS. There is, indeed, beauty in being “un-coupled”. I no longer have to chase after socks inconsiderately strewn a few inches away from the hamper. I no longer have to fret over the toilet seat left up by an aimless shooter who thinks it is longer than it really is. I no longer have to buy new shoes and need justify why I need another pair. And most importantly, I can enjoy as much garlic to my heart’s content in my fried rice as fluffy, down pillows don’t complain. Woot hoot! Rejoice with me, this gal has moved on!

Garlic fried rice completes the trinity of the classic Filipino breakfast called silog, which is a combination of cured meat (tapa, tocino or longganisa), SInangag (fried rice) and itLOG (fried egg). Like most fried rice, it is an excellent way to re-vamp leftover rice (tip: always best to start with chilled, day-old rice!) and can, of course, be enjoyed any time of the day. Pair it with grilled pork chops, tortang talong and sliced tomatoes, and my, oh my, you’ve found chow heaven!

Ingredients

4 cups cooked rice
5 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
oil
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

With the side of a knife, crush garlic cloves. Remove the loosened skin and discard. Chop garlic to bits.

In a thick, heavy-bottomed skillet or wok and over medium-high, heat enough oil to cover minced garlic. Add garlic and cook until pale gold (do not burn as garlic will be bitter!) and crispy, stirring frequently. With a slotted spoon, remove garlic bits and drain on paper towels.

Remove some of the oil from skillet leaving about 2 tablespoons. Add the loosened rice and distribute across surface of skillet. Allow to cook, undisturbed, until grains start to crackle, around 1 to 2 minutes. Stir, spreading again across surface of skillet. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss in toasted garlic bits and stir well to combine.

Remember the toasted garlic bits from making garlic oil? Aren’t you glad you saved them for this?

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Cassava Cake with Custard Topping

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Arroz Caldo

Lalaine — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:22:02 +0000

When I was growing up in the Philippines, I would occasionally feign illness to miss a school day. My mother would then send our househelp to buy and bring back every type of food I could think of and one of my favorite requests was arroz caldo bought from the downtown wet market. Before she would leave for work, my mother would live detailed instructions to our yaya on what times I will be taking my paracetemol and on when to heat up my arroz caldo. My mother has always been good that way, always bent on making her children happy…and spoiled. Did she know I was faking? Of course.

The weather today pretty much started warm and sunny but by the time I headed home from work at 5 PM, the temperature has plummeted to the nippy 60’s and the skies had already shifted to an ominous black. For some inexplicable reason, the prospect of a heavy rain made me feel alone and lonely and afraid. I do not know why, but that very moment, I felt like a little child longing for her mother to make things alright. I drove all the way home wishing for the warmth and comfort of a bowl of piping hot arroz caldo.

Arroz caldo is an excellent way of reusing leftover rice and extending meat to a substantial meal offering. Although its name suggests Spanish infleunce, its preparations are more similar to Chinese porridge. This filipino variation of lugaw starts like tinolang manok, with aromatics such as onion, ginger and garlic for flavor, and completes with rice thrown in to cook in broth to desired viscosity. The arroz caldo recipe below is how I like to enjoy mine: soupy and gingery~and has been tested and given many thumbs-up by my beloved duo at home and my friends at work. You can, of course, modify the amounts of water and seasonings to suit your desired consistency and taste.

Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (around 3 to 4 lbs), bone-in, cut into small pieces
1 palm-size ginger, peeled and minced (to about 1 cup)
2 heads garlic, peeled and minced
1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
5 pieces chicken bouillion cubes (or 2 1/2 tbsps chicken base powder)
14 to 16 cups water
salt and pepper
2 tbsps patis (fish sauce)
cooking oil
green onions, finely chopped
calamansi or lemon juice

Procedure

Trim unwanted fat from chicken parts, wash and drain well. Wash rice and drain well.

Set aside around 1 tsp of the minced garlic. In a small pan, fry over low heat the remainder of the garlic until brown and toasted.

In a deep, heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil. Saute ginger, onions and the teaspoon of reserved garlic until tender and aromatic.

Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned and have rendered juice. Pour in fish sauce. Continue to stir for around 1 to 2 minutes.

Add in rice. Stir continously until rice starts to lightly brown. Pour in 10 cups of the water. Allow to a boil, removing scum that may float to surface. Add bouillion cubes. Cover pot and lower heat to simmer. Check and stir regularly. Add the rest of the water in 1 cup increments and as needed. Continue to cook until the rice has softened and the congee has thickened to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste ( I used about 1/8 tsp pepper and 1/2 tbsp salt).

Ladle into bowls and top with chopped green onions and fried garlic bits. Squirt in calamansi or lemon juice to taste. Serve hot.

Tip:
Mince ginger as small as you can so that they are almost unrecognizable in the soup.

Soup Recipes in The CookMobile Archive

Shrimp and Vegetable Soup

Pork Pozole

Chinese Pearl Balls

Lalaine — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:37:14 +0000

These appetizers are so christened due to how their shell of glutinous rice turns to pearly grains when cooked. These chinese pearl balls are favorite mainstays in dimsum houses but can easily be made at home with a little bit of rolling and…quite a bit of time.

For successful pearl balls, glutinous or “sweet” rice need to soak in water for 5 to 8 hours. The inner filling was my basic recipe for chicken-filled wontons but the couple of modifications here and there I did to the mixture definitely kicked these balls up a notch.

Makes 36 Pearl Balls

Ingredients

1 cup glutinous rice
1 lb chicken or pork, ground
1 green onion, finely chopped
6 dried chinese black mushrooms (shitake)
1/2 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 thumb-sized fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper

Procedure

Soak glutinous rice in enough water to cover for 5 hours. Drain well and using paper towels, pat grains dry. Set aside.

Reconstitute mushrooms in hot water for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Discard stems and chop the caps finely.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the rice. Form around a teaspoonful of meat mixture into 1-inch diameter balls.

Spread rice in a wide dish or in a baking sheet. Roll meat balls, one at a time, in the bed of rice, coating them completely with the grains. Arrange coated balls on a wax-lined sheet. At this stage they can be refrigerated or frozen for later use.

Set up steamer with water. Bring around 1-inch of water into a boil. Arrange balls on a plate that will comfortably fit in steamer, or, alternatively, layer cabbage leaves on steamer rack and arrange pearl balls on top of leaves. Cover and steam until rice and meat are cooked, around 30 minutes. Serve with soy sauce.

Soy Sauce Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsps rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tsp minced scallions
1/4 tsp sugar

Recipes with an Asian Flair in The CookMobile Archive:

Nutella and Banana Wontons

Shrimp and Wonton Soup

Khow Pad Moo (Thai Pork Fried Rice)

Lalaine — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:18:02 +0000

There are numerous blog postings in the forums I frequent and newscasts on The Filipino Channel I patronize about the rice crisis in the Philippines. However, the information about the shortage did not elicit interest from me until today when I went to our nearby asian supermarket for my bi-monthly grocery shopping. I found out that not only was my favorite brand of jasmine rice out of stock but there was also a limit of two bags per household for lesser-quality brands. To my added chagrin, prices doubled from around $12 to $25 for the 25-lb sizes. It is very sad that a problem does not become OUR problem until it reaches our doorstep. It is sadder still that I can go home annoyed with a 50-lb sack of rice in my trunk just because I was not able to avail of the brand I prefer while televised news show children from the other side of the world standing in line for hours to receive a little bag of grain barely sufficient for a meal.

I am providing a link here to FreeRice.com, an award-winning site that is working, in collaboration with UN World Food Program, to end hunger twenty grains at a time.

I adapted this recipe from the “Lemon Grass, Quick and Easy Thai Cuisine” cookbook that I recently purchased from Barnes and Noble and is now fast becoming one of my favorite dinner sources. This khow pad moo (thai-style pork fried rice), as well as the adobo fried rice, shrimp fried rice and binagoongan fried rice recipes already in the archive, is an excellent way to re-invent cooked white rice.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white rice
1 egg
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced to strips
1/4 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced to strips
1/2 tomato, cut into chunks
1 green onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 cup pork, sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp white pepper
vegetable oil
cilantro
cucumber

Complimenting Sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
chopped thai chili peppers

Procedure

In a frying pan, heat oil. Add garlic. Stir fry pork until done. Break egg into pan and scramble until cooked.

Add rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and white pepper. Continue cooking until rice is hot, adjusting temperature as needed. Add onions, sliced peppers and tomato chunks. Toss in chopped green onions.

Garnish with cucumber slices and cilantro sprig. Serve with complimenting sauce on the side.

TIP:
If kecap manis is unavailable, use mollasses with a little vegetable stock stirred in.

Recipes with Asian Flair in The CookMobile Archive:

Pepper Steak

Chicken Teriyaki

Shrimp Fried Rice

Lalaine — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:22:17 +0000

Rice is a primary food staple in the Philippines and can be found in many dishes~from the main meal, beverages, and to desserts. It is such a cornerstone of the Filipino way of life that as child, I remember being scared silly by my grandmother, bless her soul, to wolf my dinner plate clean of these precious whites, with the fear that “I will spend my after life picking up from the ground of Hades each and every grain I wasted.” So ingrained in me her words that even now as a grown adult who knows better, I shudder at the mere thought of throwing away rice. Not difficult, really, as there are many creative ways to make use of leftovers. I often add them in cold salads, throw them in soups, wrap them in fluffy omelets, or re-vamp them as this quick shrimp fried rice recipe below.

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients

6 cups day-old rice, grains loosened
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 to 4 oz boneless and skinless chicken breast, sliced to slivers 1/4 inch thick
1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 eggs
2 tbsps soy sauce
vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Procedure

Peel shrimps and devein by running knife horizontally through back. Slice chicken breast.

Heat oil in a heavy, wide skillet or wok. Add lightly beaten eggs and scramble. Do not overcook. Remove eggs from skillet and set aside.

Saute chicken until cooked. Remove from skillet and set aside. Add more oil to skillet as needed. Saute shrimp until pink. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Increase heat to high. Saute onions until tender and translucent. Add cooked rice and spread on surface of pan. Allow to cook for about 2 to 3 minutes and then stir, spreading grains again all over surface of pan. Toss in soy sauce. Add peas and carrots, and stir well to combine. Add cooked chicken and shrimp. Continue to cook until all ingredients are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine in scrambled eggs. Remove from skillet. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.

TIP:
Good additions include fresh pineapple cubes, luncheon meat (SPAM) or ham cubes, cured meat (chinese sausage, BBQ pork etc.), cashew nuts, and raisins. With all these add-ons, the rice becomes a meal in itself!

Potatoes and Grains Recipes in Archive:

Adobo Fried Rice

Parslied Potatoes

Choletas Contentas (Happy Pork Chops)

Lalaine — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:43:31 +0000

To attain their spicy and flavorful bite, these thick pork cutlets were simmered happily in beer and over a bed of spanish-style rice.

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients

6 boneless center cut porkchops,around 1-inch thick
1 cup long-grain rice
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup beer
1 cup chicken broth or water
cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper
vegetable oil

Procedure

Season pork with salt and pepper to taste. In a wide pan, heat oil. Sear both sides of pork chops. Remove from heat and set aside.

In the same pan, saute onions and garlic, scraping and mixing in browned bits in pan.
Stir in rice. Saute until slightly browned, around 3 to 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, jalapeno, beer and water. Bring to a boil. Cover pan and lower heat. Allow to simmer, around 8 to 10 minutes.

Place pork chops on top of rice and cover again. Simmer for an additional 10 to 12 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle cilantro, if desired.

TIP:
If water is to be used in place of beer, additional salt and pepper may be needed.

Pork Recipes in The CookMobile Archive:

Paksiw na Pata (Braised Pork Shank in Soy Sauce and Vinegar)

Pork Embutido (Filipino-Style Meatloaf)

Adobo Fried Rice

Lalaine — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:08:51 +0000

Before today, I’ve never tried adobo fried rice, much less cook it. My family loves adobo and will even have it for days in a row so I’ve never had enough leftover adobo pork meat to try my hand on an adobo fried rice recipe. However, my submission of binagoongan rice to the Lasang Pinoy 22 Rice Challenge sent a few food bloggers for a visit and somehow, all their warm enthusiasm and comments awakened the rice-loving monster in me! I cooked pork adobo specifically to make adobo fried rice! I suppose the sizable mound of it that I consumed tonight is a clear indication of what New Year’s resolution I would not be meeting again!

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

3 cups cold rice
1 cup of pork adobo, shredded coarsely
1/4 pork adobo sauce
2 eggs, lightly beaten
vegetable oil
fried garlic chips

Procedure

Heat around 2-3 tbsps of vegetable in a wide skillet. Saute shredded pork adobo meat until slightly crisp and dry.

Stir in rice until well combined. Slide rice mixture to the side of skillet and pour around 1 tbsp vegetable oil at the center of the skillet.

Lightly scramble egg in the oil. Mix in with the rice mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup of the pork adobo sauce.
Place in serving platter and garnish with fried garlic chips, as desired.

Adobo Recipe Recipe below will yield more than you need.

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder, pork leg or pork belly, cubed
1 1/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 large onion, sliced
1 head garlic, minced
1/4 tsp peppercorn, crushed
3 to 4 cups water
2 tbsps vegetable oil
1/2 onion, sliced into rings
1 to 2 pieces bay leaf

Wash, cut pork shoulder into serving cubes and place in deep bowl. Add soy sauce, onions, garlic, bay leaf and pepper. Marinate for around 30 minutes. Squeeze marinade out of meat. Set aside liquid.

In a heavy skillet or wok, heat oil until very hot. Saute marinated pork plus the onions, garlic and bay leaf in skillet. Allow to brown, stirring constantly.

Add vinegar and allow to boil for around 1 to 2 minutes. Lower heat to medium-high. Simmer uncovered until vinegar is reduced, around 10 minutes.

Add water and reserved marinade, lower heat to low, and cover. Simmer for around 35-40 minutes, or until pork is tender, and juice is reduced and natural grease from meat has seeped out.

Pork Recipes in The CookMobile Archive:

Binagoongan Rice

Filipino BBQ Pork-on-a-Stick”

Lasang Pinoy 22 Entry-Binagoongan Rice

Lalaine — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:52:43 +0000

Through the kindness of another food blogger, Gay of A Scientist in the Kitchen, I discovered this blogging event called Lasang Pinoy 22, the Rice Challenge. If you read through her comments section, you’ll discover a person nice enough to help another. Thanks Gay! So, here I am, RICING to the occasion with my recipe for binagoongan rice.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

4 cups cold rice
1 to 1 1/2 cups binagoongan baboy

Procedure

In a wide pan or skillet, heat oil. Add rice and saute until loosened.

Add binagoongan na baboy mixture, stirring until well combined. Continue to cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes until rice is completely heated through. Serve hot with broiled fish of choice.

Binagoongan Baboy (will yield more than needed for binagoongan rice recipe)

2 lbs pork belly, sliced into 1-inch cubes
4 to 5 tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup shrimp paste
1 onion, peeled and diced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup vinegar
1 tsp sugar
2 cups water
vegetable oil
salt and pepper

In a pot, heat oil. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant. Add in pork cubes and continue to cook until browned and lightly toasted, stirring occasionally to prevent from burning.

Add in shrimp paste. Saute until shrimp paste slightly darkens in color.

Toss in tomatoes. Continue to cook until tomatoes are softened, squishing regularly with back of spoon.

Pour in vinegar. Allow to a slow boil for around 3 to 5 minutes. Pour in water. Stir in sugar. Add in chilies. Lower heat, cover and simmer until sauce is reduced and pork is fork-tender.

Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.

Potatoes and Grains Recipes in The CookMobile Archive

Shrimp Fried Rice

Adobo Fried Rice