Pork Fried Rice

Some time around Christmas I started craving fried rice. It's not like it's hard to come by, but where I live we don't have Chinese delivery and the only restaurants are not open hours that are conducive to my being able to go there with my work non-schedule. So I just kept wanting it and wanting it, until one day it occurred to me: Make it yourself, silly!

I'd never made fried rice before. Don't ask me how I managed to be this old without doing it, but I hadn't. I started looking for recipes online, and then I realized it couldn't possibly be that hard. I already knew you were supposed to start with leftover rice, and I had some. So then I just started adding things until I was satisfied, and it came out pretty darn tasty. My mother even liked it!

I always use Minute Rice. Until I can justify spending the money on a rice cooker, that's how it'll be. I am rice-making inept, and I have come to accept that. Feel free to use regular rice if you're better at it than I am.

Pork, green onion, some thawed frozen vegetables, and some seasonings. I stood there looking at this for the longest time thinking there had to be something more involved, but it wasn't until I was putting leftovers away it occurred to me: eggs! I completely forgot to add eggs. So be it.

After I minced the pork, I marinated it for an hour or so to ensure good flavour. You don't have to, but I prefer to marinate most meats whenever possible both as an effort to keep them from drying out and to season them.

I heated some olive oil in my skillet and browned the pork, stir-frying for something like 5 minutes.

Then I added the vegetables and stir-fried for another few minutes.

Next step was to add a little more oil, the rice, and the green onion, and continue stir-frying for another few minutes. After that, I stirred in some more Maggi and stir-fried about 10 more minutes, to make sure the pork was done and the vegetables and rice were heated through. That last step is where normal people making fried rice would've added a couple of beaten eggs, but I am not a normal person.

I served it with a green salad, and put the bottle of Maggi on the table in case I needed more. Turns out I didn't, although when I reheated the leftovers for lunch the next day I did add a little more.

I'm never buying fried rice again. This was way too easy, and consisted of things I always have in my house. It's also really easy to adjust how much you make, or to change out what meat (if any) is used. Next time I may try it with tofu, because I can.

Pork Fried Rice

Serves 6

1/2 pound pork tenderloin, minced
Marinade:
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons soy sauce (I use Meri Maggi seasoning)
1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup peas and carrots (frozen, thawed)
1 cup whole kernel corn (frozen, thawed)
1 cup green onion, sliced
3 cups brown rice (cooked and cooled)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (Meri Maggi seasoning)

Combine pork and marinade ingredients in a zip-top plastic bag and refrigerate for at least an hour, turning bag occasionally.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet; stir-fry pork until browned, about 5 minutes.

Add peas and carrots and corn, stir-fry 1-2 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon oil, rice, and green onion and stir-fry 2-3 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and continue stir-frying until pork is done and rice and vegetables are heated through, about 5-10 minutes more.

*If desired, beat 2 large eggs well and stir in with the soy sauce.

Serving Size: 215 g

Calories: 489

Calories from Fat: 87

Total Fat: 9.7 g

Saturated Fat: 1.8g

Trans Fat: 0.0 g

Cholesterol: 28 mg

Sodium: 447 mg

Total Carbohydrates: 82.3 g

Dietary Fiber: 5.2 g

Sugars: 2.5 g

Protein: 19.3 g