10 Minutes: The New Standard for Vegetable Fried Rice
A Tribune News Service recipe leverages microwaveable brown rice to deliver a restaurant style dish without the need for a wok or extensive cleanup.
By Madison Darwish ·
Home cooks can produce a crisp, flavorful vegetable fried rice in ten minutes using a standard skillet and microwaveable brown rice.
Linda Gassenheimer, writing for Tribune News Service, asserts that this method eliminates the need for the high heat of commercial woks. She notes that adding cold ingredients to a hot pan and letting them sit for one or two minutes allows the skillet to regain its temperature. This technique creates the desired texture without special equipment. The recipe yields two servings and relies on a one minute cooking time for the base rice.
The dish features shiitake mushrooms, shelled edamame, and water chestnuts. Gassenheimer states that these ingredients provide a crunchy and savory profile. The preparation involves sautéing mushrooms, onion, garlic, and water chestnuts in sesame oil for three minutes. The cooked brown rice is then added for one minute of further cooking. An egg is scrambled directly in the center of the pan and mixed in, followed by reduced sodium soy sauce and defrosted edamame. The final product is garnished with sliced scallions.
The author keeps microwaveable brown rice on hand specifically to avoid washing an extra pot. She claims the one minute cooking time makes it ideal for a quick dinner. The shopping list includes a package of microwaveable brown rice, shiitake mushrooms, fresh ginger, water chestnuts, sesame oil, minced garlic, reduced sodium soy sauce, frozen shelled edamame, and scallions. Onion and eggs are listed as staples that should already be in the pantry.
Nutritional data indicates each serving contains 453 calories, with 32 percent of those calories derived from fat. The macronutrient breakdown includes 16.3 grams of fat, 21.3 grams of protein, and 60.0 grams of carbohydrates. The fiber content stands at 9.1 grams per serving, while sodium is 832 milligrams. Cholesterol levels are recorded at 93 milligrams.
Gassenheimer offers two substitutions for the base ingredients. Cooks may use four crushed garlic cubes instead of minced garlic. Any variety of mushroom can replace the shiitakes without altering the core method. The recipe is designed to be assembled, cooked, and served within a single ten minute window.
