Jana's Fried Rice

Ta da!

Fried rice.

Who knew it would be so easy?

Jana McBurney-Lin, author of the wonderful novel My Half of the Sky, has graciously shared her fried rice recipe below. Any book clubs out there, looking for a good book to read and a delicious dish to serve at your next meeting, look no further.

Here are Jana's instructions. When you're done cooking and eating, check out her blog at http://www.myhalfofthesky.blogspot.com/.

"I thought fried rice was originated in this country, the story being that a customer came in late one evening to a Chinese restaurant. The customer asked for something to eat, but all the cook had was a little of this and a little of that. Instead of turning the customer away, the cook fried up a dish of leftovers. Fried Rice.

"I did a little research though, and--while the story is similar--the history goes back forever, apparently to Yangzhou (a town between Shanghai and Nanking). I visited Yangzhou the first time I went to China. I was backpacking about, and a fellow traveler mentioned that Yangzhou had purple-sand pottery. I was nearby (in Nanking), and thought, 'Hey, I've never seen purple sand or purple sand pottery. I'll go see what this is about.' It was a tiny town. From the reactions of the children around, they probably had never seen a foreigner in the flesh. I remember walking along the dusty streets, and an old man from a tea shop beckoned me in. He wanted to chat. I didn't speak more than a handful of Chinese at the time, but we had a nice time sipping tea and smiling. (I never did find the purple pottery.)

"But back to the rice. It's easy--and just remember, if it doesn't taste right, add a bit more salt.

"Ingredients:

leftovers: meat and veggies (chicken and pork taste nice, as do bell peppers)

cold rice

3 eggs

salt and pepper

green onions

Take your leftover meat and veggies and chop up small. Take your leftover rice and set aside.(If you don't have leftover rice, make a few cups and let cool.) Take three eggs, whip them into a froth in a bowl. Add salt and pepper. If you have some green onion, chop that up.

Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a large fry pan (or wok). When the oil is heated, add the eggs and fry up til a bit sloppy. Then add your leftover rice, chopped up meat, veggies, etc. When these are heated through, turn off the heat. Sprinkle with green onion. There you have it."
Jana McBurney-Lin, Author, My Half of the Sky, http://www.myhalfofthesky.blogspot.com/

Lynn's note: Delicious. We sprinkled a dash of soy sauce on it. I'm listing it as a side dish, but I think it could count for a main dish, too.