Wicked Awesome Viet Inspired Fried Rice, aka Your New Best Friend

I love this rice. I am not sure it is remotely Vietnamese, except that it is chock-full of Vietnamese ingredients. This is a perfect preparation for leftover rice, and indeed the texture is nicer after the grains have been cold in the fridge for a few hours. A day or two old is optimal. I am greedy for it though, and inevitably end up making the rice only an hour or two before throwing it in the wok, at the very least letting it cool thoroughly before meeting its final, delicious end.

This is barely a recipe, more like a guideline of flavors. Any meat or vegetable leftovers you have in your fridge would probably be great. This is how I like mine though.

When the steamed or boiled long grain rice is sufficiently cool, start preparing the ingredients. I like to have everything chopped and the sauce bottles opened before cooking, since the actual wok time is pretty quick and dirty. Chop up two or three cloves of garlic, an entire bunch of scallions, three or four (if you dare) Thai Bird's Eye Chilies and a bunch of cilantro. Set all these ingredients aside but keep them pretty separate as they have different cooking times. Then slice up some Chinese sausages (I use local ones from Hons Wun-Tun House, but you can find them in most Chinese grocers), shell a few shrimp, and crack one or two eggs into a small bowl. Beat the eggs slightly then add a little salt and pepper. Also have Sambal Oelek (or another lovely chili sauce), fish sauce and soy sauce at the ready.

Get your wok nice and hot and add a few tablespoons of peanut or vegetable oil. Scramble the eggs, break them into large bite sized pieces, and set aside. Re-oil the wok, if necessary. Add the sausages, garlic and chilies and quickly stir fry until the garlic is fragrant and the sausages have a little color. Both burn quickly, so move fast. Add a tablespoon or so of Sambal Oelek, most of the scallions and the shrimp.

Toss the shrimp around for a minute or so before adding the rice, one handful at a time. The rice can be sticky so dampen your hands a bit. As you add the rice, carefully stir in a flip and fold sort of motion. It's pretty important not to mash the rice while stirring. The eggs go back into the wok at this point as well. When it is all incorporated and the shrimp is nice and pink and curled up, season the fried rice with a tablespoon or two of soy sauce and double that amount of fish sauce. A couple or more stirs and you are good to go. A nice handful of green onions on top is lovely, and I like to throw a salad worth of cilantro over the whole things as well. Nice to get a bit of green in.