On busy nights of the work week, when I don’t feel like taking two hours to make dinner, I invariably rely on a variety of comfort food standbys. One of them is a savory fried rice, probably unlike any you’ll ever find in a restaurant, that touches on almost all basic tastes: salty, sweet, sour, and umami. And it’s spicy. It uses a ton of the herbs I grew up with (cilantro, spring onions, Vietnamese cilantro, pak wae leaves, kaffir lime leaves), thai chilis (I like my food so hot it hurts), fish sauce, and lime juice to finish it off.
Yes, I said fish sauce, also known as nước mắm in Vietnamese or nam pla (น้ำปลา) in Thai. Don’t be scared by this pungent sauce made of fermented fish (enough said). Used with a gentle hand, it adds a wonderful depth of flavor. If this fish sauce is hard to come by, you can substitute anchovies (available in a jar with oil at most markets now) or try the Italian fish sauce, colatura di alici, which is a modern day version of the fish sauce used in Italy since Roman times. If using anchovies, rinse them well, chop them, and cook them with the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. They will melt away, leaving only their flavor.
Below is a basic vegetarian-ish (except fish sauce/anchovies) recipe, followed by variations, such as adding mushrooms, gently pan-fried fish (cod, black cod, halibut), shrimp, or even good old American bacon. I have used jasmine, basmati, and brown rice, and they’re all equally good. Day old rice is better for frying. This method results in a far less greasy fried rice. Also, note that the quantities below are estimates. You can’t have too much or too little of anything. (And you can leave out what you can’t find or don’t like — though the resulting flavors will not be as complex.) Same goes for the protein.
Chantal’s Savory Fried Rice
Time: 30-60 minutes, depending on how complex you make it
Makes 6-8 servings
3-4 c. day old cooked rice
2 TBSP olive oil
salt to taste
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed (to peel easily) and then finely sliced
1/2 in. ginger, sliced
4 in. lemon grass root, outer layers peeled away and crushed whole
2-3 kaffir lime leaves, gently torn
1-2 thai chilis chopped (optional – add more for more heat, less for less)
3 stalks chopped scallions or green onions
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/4 c. chopped Vietnamese cilantro (skip if you can’t find)
handful Thai basil, leaves gently torn
1/2 c. fresh pineapple, diced 1/4-in. cubes (if using canned, use sliced pineapple, drain well and dice)
2 eggs
1-2 TBSP fish sauce (or 3-4 anchovies, chopped)
1. Heat 1 TBSP olive oil over medium to low heat. Add ginger, garlic, lemon grass, lime leaves, and, if using, anchovies. Stir around for 1 minute to incorporate the flavors (be careful not to burn garlic and be aware that the aroma of cooked chilis can tickle your throat). Add scallions, cilantros, thai basil, chilis, and pineapple. Let it all incorporate for a minute, then move everything to outer edge of pan, leaving a hole in middle. Add remaining olive oil if needed and crack eggs into this and let it set and cook a bit before breaking it up and incorporating into the rest of the mixture. Remove mixture from pan and set aside.
2. Add rice to the pan (add more oil if you need it) and let it toast and brown a bit. Add mixture, pour half the fish sauce evenly over everything. Stir and thoroughly incorporate all ingredients with the rice. Taste for saltiness. If it needs more salt, add remaining fish sauce a little at a time. Remove from heat and discard the lemon grass and lime leaves. Serve garnished with cilantro or basil and a wedge of lime that can be squeezed over the rice.
Variations on the rice:
* Mixed mushrooms: Pan sear them and add to mixture just before the eggs.
* Pan-fried fish: Using a well seasoned or nonstick pan, add a small bit of oil (2 TSP or so) and cook over medium heat. Pinch some salt with all your fingers and season skin side of fish fillet and add to pan, skin side down, when oil starts smoking. Let cook 3-4 minutes, and while it’s doing so, season the uncooked side with another pinch of salt. Turn fillet over and let cook another 3-4 minutes. Fish should be flaky when cooked. Remove from heat. Cut or flake into generous bite size pieces and set aside (remember, incorporating it into rice may break fish further, so keep pieces big to start with). For the fried rice, add fish at the very end, after everything else has been well incorporated, including the fish sauce. Add fish as a final step, stir gently to mix fish in, and serve.
* Shrimp: Here, you want to add cleaned raw shrimp (however much you want, but 1/2 c. OK) to the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves, and chilis — before the herbs. Season with a pinch of salt and stir around until shrimp begins to turn pink. Add herbs and pineapple, stir around a bit and then add the eggs according to direction.
* Bacon: You’ll cook the bacon before everything else. Use however many strips of bacon you want (3-4 OK), chop into 1/4-in pieces, cook in pan over low to medium heat and let fat render out (I like center cut bacon for less fat). Remove fat (or keep some to use as your oil base) and add olive oil. Add garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves, and chilis. Continue with directions above.
