Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1. 4-5 cups cooked rice, preferably several days old
2. 1 boneless chicken breast or 2 thighs, chopped into small bits
3. 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
4. 4 spring onions, sliced, white parts separate from green
5. 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
6. 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, sliced into thin matchsticks
7. 1 red or green chili, thinly sliced (or less for milder rice)
8. 5-7 fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
9. 1 egg
10. 1/2 cup frozen peas
11. 2-3 vegetable oil
12. optional: 1 stalk celery, sliced (adds a little crunch to the dish)
13. STIR-FRY SAUCE:
14. 3 Tbsp. chicken stock
15. 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
16. 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
17. 1 Tbsp. lime juice
18. 1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
19. 1/4 tsp. sugar

Method:

• To prepare leftover cold rice: Pour a teaspoon or so of oil onto your fingers and work through the rice, separating clumps back into grains (for a visual, see: Making Thai Fried Rice. To prepare chicken: Chop into small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour over 1 Tbsp. soy sauce and stir. Set aside.
• Combine all ‘stir-fry sauce’ ingredients together in a cup, stirring to dissolve the sugar and pepper. Set aside.
• Warm a wok or large frying pan over high or medium-high heat. Drizzle in 2 Tbsp. oil and swirl around, then add the white parts of the onion, garlic, galangal/ginger, and chili. Stir-fry 1 minute, then add the chicken. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes, or until chicken turns evenly opaque on the outside.
• Add the mushrooms and celery (if using), and stir-fry 2-3 more minutes, until mushrooms and chicken are cooked through. If your wok/pan becomes too dry, add 1-2 Tbsp. chicken stock or white wine.
• Keeping heat high, add the rice. Stir-fry everything together using a spatula or other flat utensil to gently lift and turn the rice. After frying for 1 minute, gradually begin adding the sauce you made, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time. Continue stir-frying in this way 6-10 minutes, or until all the sauce has been added. Tip: The idea is to keep the pan as dry as possible throughout the frying process. It’s the dryness of the fried rice that makes it light and fluffy (as opposed to heavy and clumpy), and frying it over high heat with a conservative amount of moisture (sauce) achieves this.
• Add the frozen peas and stir-fry briefly to incorporate. Then push everything aside to reveal the center of the pan. Crack in the egg and quickly stir-fry to scramble. Note that the egg will dry out the pan, which is what you want at this stage. Continue stir-frying everything together for 2 more minutes, until rice is light and falls easily into separate grains.
• Switch off heat and taste-test, adding more fish sauce until desired flavor and saltiness is achieved (I usually end up adding an extra Tbsp. fish sauce when frying 5 cups rice). If rice happens to be too salty, add a squeeze of lime juice. Top with reserved green onion and serve hot from the pan. For those who like it extra spicy, serve Thai Chili Sauce on the side, and ENJOY!