Quick and Easy Fried Rice

It's sort of redundant to call fried rice easy, isn't it? Fried rice is inherently easy. There are a million versions of it which gives you the latitude to use up what you have on hand and tweak it to your family's tastes.

It's imperative to begin with at least day-old cooked rice. You'll never be able to get the right consistency if it's freshly cooked rice. You want the grains to be a bit dry and separate so that each grain can get nice and crispy.

I had a bunch of rice leftover from the Korean bulgogi so a few nights later I whipped up a batch of fried rice, keeping in mind what the Sparkly Girls would eat.

Here's what I used: cold pre-cooked rice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, 2 eggs, sweet red pepper, carrots and green onion. If I had frozen peas I would have definitely used them.

Beat the two eggs until bubbly.

Preheat oil (1 teaspoon) in a wok and add the eggs, letting them cook on one side.

When it's partially cooked, flip it and cook the other side. It'll cook faster than the first side.

Once they egg pancake is cool enough to handle, cut it into thirds, layer then on top of each other and slice into thin strips. Put this aside for the moment.

Back to the wok. Heat a bit more oil and when it's hot, add the finely chopped garlic and grated ginger. After about a minute, add the diced carrots and red pepper. Nothing was measured. You can increase or decrease the amounts according to your preference. And swap out veg and seasonings as well.

Stir fry the vegetables until cooked through, but still with a bit of bite. Mushy isn't good. About two minutes because the dice was fairly small. Put the veg mixture in a bowl and set aside.

To the now empty wok, add a tad more oil - about one teaspoon. When the oil is heated, add the rice and begin breaking up the clumps with the back of your spatula/spoon.

After about five minutes, the rice is separated and each grain is coated in a bit of oil and well "fried". Create a well in the center of the rice exposing the bottom of the wok. Add the cooked carrots and red pepper to the well. Top the cooked veggies with the green onion and sprinkle the wok with soy sauce. I'd say about 1 tablespoon.

Don't forget to add the sliced eggs.

Mix everything well, making sure that vegetables and the egg are reheated.

The Sparkly Girls LOVED this. I was so happy to add another Will Eat meal to my arsenal of quick and easy dinners that we can all enjoy. I'm weaning myself from making two separate meals - one for the kids and one for the big people.

Of course, for the big people, we sauced the fried rice up with some Sriracha. You can never go wrong with Sriracha.