Thursday 5 September 2019

Some kind of fried rice thing



Life has been crazy hectic recently. Both my elderly parents are unwell, one in critical care in hospital, and I’m running in circles to support them both and also keep the kids fed and watered.

Meals have to be quick to put on the table, but nutritious and filling and satisfying. 

On my way home I asked Papa to chop up some mushrooms which had been languishing in the fridge and once home I took a pack of bacon lardons and a bag of sliced kale which had been bought but not yet used, and created a sort of improvised fried rice.


I cooked 2 cups of rice in the microwave (I have a sistema microwave rice steamer currently, but I’ve used microwave rice cookers for as long as I can recall.)

While that cooked, I fried the bacon in a very hot wok.  When starting to crisp, I removed the bacon using a slotted spoon and then I proceeded to fry the chopped mushrooms in that oil. I then added a handful of frozen chopped onion and a shake or two of frozen chipped garlic.  Not the purée or paste, but the roughly chopped garlic so as to keep the flavour at the correct level.

When these were nicely softened and cooked, I added the bag of chopped kale.  Of course at first it looked like it wouldn’t fit in the pan, but it soon “melted” down.  

By this point, the rice was cooked and I added it to the wok, breaking up any lumps and mixing everything very thoroughly so that no clumps remained.  I then added the bacon back along with a little black pepper. 

We all enjoyed this dish. Some added a little soy sauce and some added hot sauce of choice, but everyone enjoyed it!


Ingredients used:

1 large pack of lardons
1 bag of sliced kale
1 punnet brown mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped, or a handful of frozen chopped onion
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped.
Ground nut oil if wished
Salt and pepper to taste.