I love winters! Cooking becomes all the more fun because of the variety of seasonal produce that nature offers during this season. The colors and diversity at the local store make me a happy home cook!
The reason why I call this recipe winter fried rice is that you can add any number of winter vegetables here. I have gone ahead and added spinach, button mushrooms, carrots, and peas. The idea is to make your fried rice as diverse as possible in using winter produce!
The reason why I love this fried rice so much is that it is not only tasty but filled with the crunch of vegetables. The health quotient is also automatically high as a result of so many vegetables. This is a vegetarian version. If you’d like, you can add your favorite protein in here too (chicken or eggs would be a heavenly addition).
Another reason is the use of the availability of fresh large red chilies or cayenne pepper in the market. The bright red color just pulled me towards it and I bought a few to add in my meals. And it added just the right punch to my fried rice.
Preparation time – 20 minutes
Cook time – 20 minutes
Serves – 2 people
Ingredients
- 100 g cooked rice
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 10 g butter
- 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 carrot, finely sliced
- 6 button mushrooms, cut in halves
- 50 g fresh peas
- 100 g chopped spinach
- 1/2 fresh large red chili or cayenne pepper, finely chopped
- 3 spring onion, chopped
- 1 tsp sambal sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper sauce
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- Spring onion greens for garnish
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Heat oil in a wok. Add the butter to it and mix till it combines together.
- Add the chopped cayenne pepper into the oil. This will help its aroma and flavor of the cayenne pepper infuse into the oil.
- Next, add the finely chopped garlic to the oil. Give it a light stir. Do not burn. Let it release its aroma.
- Cut the spring onions into medium pieces and add it to the oil. Stir for about thirty seconds.
- Add the vegetables including peas, carrot, mushroom, and spinach. You can add any of your favorite winter vegetables here, including mustard leaves, capsicum, cabbage etc. It tastes brilliant!
- Stir the vegetables for another minute or two till they cook, but do not get soggy, The vegetables need to remain slightly crunchy to add freshness to the final recipe.
- Pour some oyster sauce and mix well.
- Season with salt and black pepper powder.
- Add the cooked rice, stir well till every grain is coated in the oil and sauces.
- Add dark soy sauce and mix well.
- Garnish with fresh scallions and sesame seeds.
- Serve hot.
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