Off to Eastern Asia we go. I don’t often attempt Chinese food myself, but when I do it usually turns out pretty well. I keep promising myself I will try more recipes from this part of the world as, with a little preparation and some judicious shopping, you can turn out very tasty and relatively healthy food quickly and easily. It’s also the perfect food if you are cooking for one or two.
Fried rice dishes are very easy to make, infinite in their variety and a great way to use up any leftover rice you might have from the previous day. In fact, it is recommended that you use day old rice that has been in the fridge, rather than freshly cooked rice. What makes this one special, for me, is the addition of a Chinese Sausage called lap chong. The flavour of lap chong is quite unique and difficult to describe using a word other than piquant. There are also different types of lap chong so you’ll get slightly different flavours depending on where you get yours. I picked up my lap chong from the chilled cabinet in one of the larger Asian Supermarkets in Dublin, it came vacuum sealed in a pack of about ten. The packaging assures me they will keep for 6 months in the freezer, which is good as they were relatively expensive.
I love Asian markets as they are like a mystical, foody, wonderland to me. I wander the aisles in search of the few bits and pieces I need, and marvel at the baffling variety of exotic veg and strange creatures looking at me from the freezers and chillers. Most of the time I have no idea what I am looking at and it can take some time to even find the things I do know. This process could be a bit intimidating to some, but the staff will always be helpful if you need to ask. I often find myself meandering into a shop and not picking up a basket, as I convince myself I will only buy the couple of things I need. Like a visit to Ikea, this strategy nearly always fails, and I end up laden down with things I forgot I needed or new things I want to try. On this visit, my phone rang while I was laden down with armfuls of sausages and bottles and spices, one of the staff scurried over to me with a basket and a smile, proper service, you wouldn’t get that in Tesco! Asian markets are also great places to buy your herbs and spices, they are nearly always cheaper than what’s on offer in the ‘western’ supermarkets.
You could use bacon as a substitute for the lap chong in this recipe if you can’t be bothered with the effort and expense of finding Chinese sausage, or just leave the meaty element out altogether and add more veg. Fried rice is fried rice.
This was my evening meal and there was enough left over for a light lunch the following day.
Special Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 tbsp Groundnut Oil. Any oil will do but groundnut oil has a very high smoke point or temperature at which it will burn which makes it ideal for stir fries
- 2 Lap Chong/Chinese Sausages thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 Egg beaten
- Salt and ground white pepper
- 150 grams of cooked and cooled rice
- A handful of frozen peas
- 4 anchovy fillets from a can finely chopped
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 spring onions sliced
Instructions
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As with all wok dishes, get all your prep done first as you will have little or no time once the actual cooking process starts. If you don’t have a wok, you can make do with a large, non-stick frying pan.
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Heat up the wok, add the oil and fry the sliced lap chong on both sides until cooked through, this won’t take long depending on how thick or thin your slices are. Mine were slightly different thicknesses so some ended up being on the crispy side, which was fine. Remove the sausage from the wok and set aside. Season the beaten egg with salt and pepper and pour this into the wok. The egg will cook and puff up quickly so stir it about roughly to scramble and break it up. Next in is the cooled, cooked rice, stir it about like a boss. Add the peas, soy sauce, and spring onions and stir about until the peas are warmed through. Finally, return the cooked sausage to the wok and stir through, check the taste and add more seasoning if you like, I added a little more soy sauce. You could drizzle over a little sesame oil or chilli oil if you have it to hand, I didn’t and it was still delicious.