Re-entering the Kitchen: Olive Fried Rice

Yang: "I feel neglected"

Ling: "Huh?"

Yang: "No more TLC…people now got high blood pressure…"

Ling: *Oops*

Long story short, I was doing less home-cooked meals since the arrival of Hannah in our family. Caring for a baby proved to be energy-sapping for me for a long while and hence I played down other areas of family life. The cooking department became low priority amongst other things. For most meals, we either eat out or order in. We had quite a bit of fast food since Mcdonalds’ delivery was quick and easy. So ya, not much of healthy eating I must say. And I felt sorry when Yang’s doc broke the bad news of him getting high blood pressure. It’s time the wife do something to improve his diet.

The solution? Back to the kitchen it is! :P

I plan to cook at least 3 times per week for a start. And I shall post about my experiences with new recipes here. The recipes posted here usually serve 2 persons (1 with a large appetite and the other with a normal appetite)

OLIVE FRIED RICE

Ingredients

§    Cold, cooked, long-grained white jasmine rice – 1 ¼ cup (I usually keep the cooked rice in the fridge for 1-2 nights before using it)

§    Minced Pork – 300 g

§    Eggs – 2 large, beaten

§    Preserved, salted, black olives – 4, rinsed, pitted & diced semi-fine

§    Garlic – 3 cloves, minced

§    Olive oil – 2 tbsps

§    Japanese cucumber – 1 stick, washed and sliced

§    Lime – 1, cut into segments

Seasoning

Beaten Eggs (before cooking)

§    Light soy sauce – 1/2 tsp

§    Ground white pepper – dash

§    Tap water – 1 tbsp

Minced Pork (during cooking)

§    Oyster sauce – 3 tbsps

Fried Rice (at the end of cooking)

§    Ground white pepper – add as desired

Method

1)         Heat up the wok with medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil.

2)         Once the oil is partially heated up, pour in the beaten eggs and scramble lightly until almost cooked. Use the spatula to cut up the eggs into small pieces. Set the scrambled eggs aside.

3)         Clean up the wok with a damp paper towel and proceed to add 1 tbsp of olive oil.

4)         Once the oil is partially heated up, add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant and lightly brown.

5)         Add the minced pork and stir-fry constantly to break up the meat into tiny bits.

6)         Add oyster sauce and continue to stir-fry until cooked. Set aside the minced pork.

7)         Add rice into the wok and stir-fry until all the grains are separated (I also used a spoon to help break up the cold, hard rice during preparation stage.)

8)         Add diced olives to the rice and stir to mix well.

9)         Return the cooked eggs and minced pork to the wok and continue to stir and mix everything evenly. Add a dash of pepper.

10)       Stir-fry until the rice has soften and is hot.

11)       Scoop the fried rice into a bowl and invert the bowl onto a serving plate with sliced Japanese cucumber and a segment of lime as side garnishes. Repeat for another plate.

12)       Serve while hot.