Recipe: Ramen Fried Rice

It’s me, and I’m here to share another trending TikTok recipe. Originating from Korea, I’ve seen it made with either raw ramen noodles (uncooked but toasted) or cooked ramen noodles. I chose to use cooked ramen noodles. Was nice to try but would I eat it again…ehhh…I think I am okay. If you ever find yourself wanting to eat double carbs, go for it. It’s pretty easy and of course it’s tasty…!

Ramen Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 package Shin Ramen, crushed
2 eggs, mixed
2 C cooked rice

Sesame Oil
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Instructions:

Place crushed ramen noodles, dry vegetable packet and seasoning mix into a heat safe bowl. Boil water and add to the bowl (less than you usually would if making it to eat regularly – maybe 1 to 1.5 C of boiling water?).

As the ramen “cooks” in the bowl. Add eggs to pan/wok to make soft scrambled eggs, add cooked rice (preferably cold leftover rice) and cook together, incorporating mixture. Add ramen mixture into pan and mix together well. The ramen mixture would have absorbed the water by now so it is no longer soupy. Fry together until fragrant and a bit toasted. Serve fried rice with a nice drizzle of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe: Vietnamese Fried Rice (Cơm Chiên)

I have always loved Vietnamese or Thai fried rice, I find them to be so flavorful and always wondered how they make it. I don’t use MSG in foods (well not straight up MSG anyway) so when I found this recipe and saw how easy it was…I had to make it! How was it? BIG SUCCESS. I already want to make more to eat more but while I am Chinese, I think there should be a limitation on how much Chinese sausage I consume in a single month.

Jasmine rice ready to cook with soy sauce and chicken bouillon

I only have bouillon cubes and didn’t break them up good enough. It’s okay, it makes the rice look cool.

Here’s an interesting step. 6 egg yolks, oyster sauce, green onions and cooked chinese sausage (forgot to add it in the beginning) in a bowl…waiting for the rice…

LOL here is the Chinese sausage that I boiled and chopped

Here it is! All mixed in together in the bowl…this is precooked! See the first picture if you want to see it in wok action! Heat up some butter and garlic in your wok and then add this mixture in until the fried rice is nice and crispy. Add more oyster sauce as desired. Absolutely delicious. But I wonder if I find it so delectable because of the lup cheong (chinese sausage). Well the point is, it is good.

Vietnamese Fried Rice (Cơm Chiên)

3 C Jasmine Rice
3 T Soy Sauce
3 t Chicken Bouillon (I used 3 small cubes)
1/2 package lup cheong (Chinese sausage) – about 3-4 sausages
6 egg yolks
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 T Oyster Sauce
2 T Butter
1/2 C Green onion, chopped

Wash jasmine rice and place in rice cooker with appropriate water (fill to the 3 line), add soy sauce and chicken bouillon. Cook the rice.

Boil or steam lup cheong for about 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and chop up, set aside.

Mix egg yolks, green onions, 2 T oyster sauce and lup cheong together in a big bowl. Add cooked rice to mixture and fold in. The rice can be made ahead and cold for this step!

In a wok, heat up butter and garlic over medium high heat. Add the rice mixture in and cook until browned and nice and crispy! Add 1 T of oyster sauce (more if you want) and top with more green onions (if you want), mix and enjoy!

Recipe from: foodwithsoy

Recipe: Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice

A lot of my recipes come out of trying to clean out my freezer or fridge. As you know, I’ve been on a bit of a health kick so cauliflower rice has become somewhat of a staple in my menu. Well I decided to experiment with it to make a fried rice and it came out really good! The people I shared it with really enjoyed it too so I decided to share the recipe with you folks. The instructions are a bit casual, let me know if you have any questions.

This has become my style, adding fried garlic to EVERYTHING.

Adding the previously sautéed shrimp back into the cauliflower and garlic mixture…

Adding the scrambled eggs back in. No mix ’em too hard, I like my eggs chunky.

Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice

4 small bags of frozen cauliflower rice (I got mine from Costco – the entire package contains 4 small bags of rice so I used the entire package)

2 T Butter
4 eggs, beaten

2 T avocado oil (whatever oil you prefer)
1 box of Kauai shrimp (the box from Costco), thawed, de-headed and peeled (I didn’t devein because who cares)
Salt and Pepper

2 T avocado oil (whatever oil you prefer)
1 1/2 heads of garlic, minced
White pepper (optional)

Instructions

EGGS
Heat up about 2 TBS of butter, add eggs. Cook to a soft scramble, should still be wet. Remove from pan and set aside.

SHRIMP
Heat up avocado oil in pan, add shrimp, sprinkle salt and pepper (about 2 cranks each). Flip after about 2-3 minutes, add salt and pepper again and cook. I didn’t cook the shrimp completely since you’re going to add it back to the rice later anyway. I think I cooked it maybe…6 minutes? Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. 

GARLIC
Heat up avocado oil in pan (I didn’t wash the pan after the shrimp) on medium low heat. Add garlic and cook, constantly stirring. It will take a while but the garlic will turn nice and brown without getting burned. Be patient.

FRIED RICE
Once garlic has reached golden brown status, add the frozen cauliflower. The frozen cauliflower is easy to break apart in the wok. Break down rice and mix it with the browned garlic. After about 3-4 minutes, add shrimp and eggs into the rice and mix together. I try to be careful because I like my eggs to remain in big chunks. I add a bit more salt and white pepper to taste at the end. It’s really up to you for seasoning, just season to taste.

Two Kinds of Fried Rice

Happy Saturday everyone! Isn’t it great? It’s been a busy week so I totally passed out at like 8:30 last night. No joke. Anyway, major cleaning going on today. I guess it’s good to get spring cleaning done early. Anyway, I just wanted to share a quick update. We had a big event the other week and had a LOT of rice leftover. I decided to make two types of fried rice for the office. Why two types? It’s because one of them had harm ha in it. For those who don’t know, harm ha is fermented shrimp paste and it is PUNGENT. I thank my coworkers for bearing with me and the smell of the harm ha. Although to be honest, it became the more popular choice! Mmm…just thinking about harm ha now…

140503-01There’s the spread of ingredients

140503-02Popping the garlic, ready for the harm ha

140503-03It gets a bit crazy when you’re making fried rice so I didn’t get anymore prep shots in. Here is my homestyle Chinese fried rice. It includes harm ha and choy sum. Absolutely delish! Not sure how many people would be interested in this recipe. Once again, if you are – let me know and I’d be more than happy to share!

140503-04I didn’t even get an after shot of the kimchee fried rice! And I got super lazy with this recipe, I didn’t even chop up the kimchee. I used the Chongga Kimchi I bought from Costco. It was all right but not good enough for my kimchee fried rice…gotta get Queen’s Supermarket Kimchee for the best kimchee fried rice!

Recipe: Jean-Georges’s Fried Rice

I first saw this recipe a few years back when I saw it on Mark Bittman’s cooking podcasts. I was very interested in trying this fried rice recipe, it is a very simple recipe but looks absolutely delicious. I’ll share the link to his video at the end of this post but I do not suggest using the amount of shoyu and sesame oil. That’s too much!

140402-01My first time using leeks! Have you used one before? It looks a lot like the big Japanese negi onion but it’s definitely not the same. Also, you cannot use the green part at all – it is very tough!

140402-02Leeks sliced up and ready to sizzle…

140402-03Minced garlic and ginger. Lots of minced garlic and ginger.

140402-04Fry the ginger and garlic in oil until they are golden and crispy.

140402-05Oh yeah…almost there! Once they are golden brown, you drain them and let them sit out a bit while you cook the rest of the dish. Letting it rest a bit lets them get even crunchier!

140402-06I couldn’t waste the aromatic ginger/garlic oil so I used it to make the fried rice! Here are the leeks ready to be sautéed.

140402-07This recipe is SO easy to make. It’s very simple in how it’s made but oh so delicious. I topped mine off with a fried egg too. I’ll share the recipe and video below with a few tips.

Jean-Georges’s Fried Rice

  • 1/2 cup peanut oil if you’re Mark Bittman, chicken fat if you’re Jean-Georges (Corn Oil if you’re Jenny)
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic (an entire bulb if you’re Jenny)
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger (a medium sized piece if you’re Jenny)
  • Salt (Jenny didn’t use this)
  • 2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried (I didn’t have two cups – I only used one stalk of leek)
  • 4 cups cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature (see note below)
  • 4 large eggs (or as many eggs as people)
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce
  1. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly. Alternately, you can pour the oil into a heat-proof bowl through a fine-mesh strainer, then return the flavorful oil to the pan, reserving the ginger and garlic bits.
  2. Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons oil and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.
  3. Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.
  4. In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining oil, sunny-side-up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.
  5. Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.
  6. Note: Use leftover cooked rice if you have it. Here are some tips if you’re cooking the rice fresh, to make sure it isn’t too soggy: When the cook time is done, leave the rice undisturbed in the pot (uncovered) for 5 minutes. Spread the rice on a tray (or two) to dry out. While you prep the rest of the ingredients, put it by an open window or a fan, or pop the tray in the fridge or freezer if you have room. Jaden Hair at Steamy Kitchen also recommends starting with 1/4 to 1/3 less water when cooking the rice.

Recipe courtesy of Food 52.

The Minimalist : Jean-Georges’s Fried Rice – Mark Bittman

Jenny’s notes:
– You must use Jasmine Rice or long grain rice – the medium grain rice I had was too mushy! Also, the rice must be at least a day old! It’s gotta be cold and hard!
– I added a splash of shoyu and sesame oil before eating – it’s really up to the person eating! This dish is so delicious and easy, but it’s the garlic/ginger crunch that makes it pop.

New Diner’s Drive-In – Honolulu, HI

Have you been to New Diner’s Drive-In?  This place is located on North King Street right next to the Post Office.  I gotta say, being a Kalihi girl…this is one of the few places I don’t like going to. There’s such a big mix of “interesting” people here.  I’ve been approached more than once by these “interesting” folks which has scared me off enough. Well, I needed dinner one night and this was one of the few places open that night…so I had no choice! The people were still as interesting as usual so I grabbed my food as soon as I could and proceeded to grind at home.

140113-01Here is one of their signature dishes. Fried saimin with BBQ chicken. I can’t deny it, it is delicious! Especially slathered in Sriracha sauce…

140113-02Here was my dinner! Kimchee fried rice. I gotta say, this was really good!  Kimchee fried rice is usually hit or miss in restaurants and I find that a lot of them tend to make kimchee fried rice a bit sweet. They made this fried rice very savory and tasty.  Too tasty.  That means I could taste butter which was nice but there was a bit too much butter.  I still think it tasted great. If I work up the nerve, I may have to return here one day.

Taiyo Ramen – Honolulu, HI

Taiyo Ramen has been a late night staple in Hawai’i for so long.  Do you folks remember when it used to be on Kapiolani where Nordstrom is now?  I must sound like one real old fogie saying that.  I’ve been saying a lot of things that make me old already.  Naming prices of what things used to be…talking about how music and movies are not good anymore.  Oh boy.  Where was I?  That’s right, Taiyo Ramen!  My favorite dish from there is definitely the kimchee fried rice.  I hate to brag but I think I make the best kimchee fried rice (lol) but if I had to buy it outside, it’s definitely from Taiyo.  Kimchee fried is one of those dishes that doesn’t seem to have a consistent recipe – every time I try it outside, it’s always different…either too sweet or not enough spice.  Anyhow, I came here a few weeks ago and was happy to see that things are still pretty much the same.  It’s a funny set up for a “Japanese” restaurant, it’s a ramen shop that sells kimchee fried rice.  The wait staff are all Korean so the TV plays KBFD (which I like), the kitchen staff are all Chinese!  Talk about getting a mixed plate, no complaints here though.  Let’s get to the pictures!

131103-01Red Mountain!  Taiyo Ramen’s famous Kimchee Fried

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