Everyone loves Chinese take-out — including the culinary couple. And when Emily saw Mark Bittman make fried rice on the Today Show last week, she got an idea. Let’s cook Chinese take-out in the comfort of our own kitchen!
Both the shrimp fried rice and pork egg rolls were easy to make and tasted better than anything from a take-out box. We chose to use shrimp and pork because we had both in the refrigerator. But you could also use chicken in the rice or ground beef in the egg rolls.
We do, however, strongly recommend using peanut oil in place of any other oil. The nutty flavor is the perfect companion to these Asian dishes.
Shrimp Fried Rice
- peanut oil
- 1 bunch of scallions, cut
- frozen stir-fry vegetables (we like water chestnuts, broccoli, and snow peas in our mix)
- frozen peas
- shrimp, peeled and deveined
- garlic
- ginger
- 3 cups brown rice (it’s even better if you cook it early and let the starches develop for a few hours)
- 2 eggs
- schezwan sauce (includes soy sauce, sesame oil, sherry, and a bit of spice)
- 1/4 cup stock or water
- salt and pepper
- Heat peanut oil in a large skillet or wok. Add scallions, garlic, and ginger.
- In a separate skillet cook vegetables according to directions on the bag.
- Add cooked rice to oil mixture. Create a well in the center and add eggs. Scramble and incorporate eggs into rice.
- Add cooked vegetables and shrimp, followed by sauces and other liquids. Fold and stir until heated through.
Pork Egg Rolls
- wonton or egg roll wrappers (found in the frozen appetizers section of your grocery store), thawed
- pork, cook and chopped
- schezwan sauce (or other Asian sauces of your choice)
- peanut oil
- garlic
- scallions
- celery
- 1 lb. bean sprouts
- 1 medium head red cabbage, finely shredded (or take some help from the store and buy a bag of already shredded cabbage
- salt and pepper
- Stir fry garlic, scallions, celery, bean sprouts, and cabbage in peanut oil.
- Add pork.
- Add a spoonful of filling to the center of each wrapper. Fold and seal (with a bit of water, if necessary).
- Fry in peanut oil until golden brown.
- Serve with duck sauce, of course.
