This is another one that's more of a technique than a recipe. You can add or subtract anything you want or have in the fridge, which is why I call it clear-the-fridge fried rice. My main goal here was to use up a container of chicken stock I made over the weekend that was probably reaching its last days.
As I said above, I've got chicken stock and rice. I grabbed some pepper and onion blend and peas out of the freezer. Decided to add a can of Spam for some meat.
Step one is to get the rice cooking, following the method that I outlined previously. Since my goal was to use the stock, I poured that out first to determine how much rice I was making. Ended up just under two cups, so I rounded up with some water and added a cup of rice.
While the rice was cooking, I cubed up about half the tin of Spam and grabbed a handful of each of the frozen vegetables into a dish to wait. I'm going to take a second to get on my Spam soapbox: I think it has a bad rap and people knee-jerk to "Ugh, Spam, gross!" Yeah it looks weird coming out of the can but if you eat bologna or hot dogs and still won't even try Spam, you're missing out. There's a lot than can be done with it and while it's probably not the best thing to eat every day, it's handy to have a shelf-stable meat that's rather versatile. Back to your regularly schedule food post.
While the rice is cooking, throw your cubed Spam into a medium-hot cast iron and get some color on it. Keep it moving, we want it golden and not burned.
When you're satisfied with the color, throw the veggies in and get color on them as well.
Rice is done! Fluff it around and remove to a big plate to release the steam and dry up a bit. You want it as dry as possible before you fry. I didn't get mine as dry as I would have liked but it still works.
Remove the veggies and Spam back into a bowl while you get your cast iron going over high heat and add some oil.
When the pan is hot and the rice is dry, add rice to the pan and press it down in. I probably could have done this in two batches for better results. This is sort of like making hash browns. You want a hot pan, press it in, then leave it alone for several minutes to develop a crust.
Nice golden brown bits! Flip it over in sections, press down, and wait. Repeat until you have enough crust or your hunger wins out.
Chop the rice up and stir in the bowl of Spam and veggies. Now is also a good time to season. I added some soy sauce packets, garlic powder, and a little dribble of sesame oil. You can really spice it however you'd like, but keep in mind Spam and soy sauce is salty so go easy on added salt. Or not, it's your blood pressure.
I decided to add some eggs, so I scrambled two in the same bowl I've been using for everything. Extra flavor and fewer dishes to wash.
Make a well in the middle of the pan, and pour the egg in. Stir it up, slowly bringing in the rice from the edges. This is similar to making pasta, but the flour is rice and the egg is still egg. This is going to happen quickly because the pan is hot. In fact, you can kill the stove and let residual heat take it through the finish.
All finished! Give it one final taste for seasoning and move to a plate.
Serve topped with a drizzle of Sriracha. Putting sesame seeds or green onions on top would be good as well, but it's clear the fridge, not fancy fried rice.
Notes:
- This really goes well with anything you have in the fridge. Use fresh onions, carrots, leftover pork chops, hot dogs, whatever you can find.
- For best results, make your rice the day before and let it dry out in the fridge. The longer the time between when the rice is done and when you fry it, the better the finished product is.
- The problem is, I never decide I want fried rice a day in advance. You can cheat your way along by spreading it out uncovered on a baking sheet and refrigerating for a couple hours, or microwaving for a few minutes to get rid of some of the water.
- Fresh garlic makes this really good, but I was out. Garlic powder makes it pretty good.
- Seriously, try Spam.
Enjoy!
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