This recipe is inspired by one of my favorite childhood food memories: the hibachi style fried-rice served at Kimpura Restaurant in Manila, Philippines. The restaurant began serving Japanese style teppanyaki meals since the 1970s. As children, we always enjoyed watching the chefs cook this fried rice live, and many tongues were burned because we gobbled it down when it was still hot.
This dish draws flavor from sweating the ingredients in a generous amount of butter, rather than relying heavily on soy sauces and other flavorings. They use MSG but this version of the recipe omits it, and is altered slightly to make this delicious fried rice accessible to home chefs outside of Manila.
Photo source: Ericjaz Foodies
This recipe serves 2-3 people.
Ingredients
Vegetable Oil – 2 tablespoons
Butter – 50 grams (half an Amul 100 gram packet)
Carrots- 1 whole diced small
Onion – 1 whole diced small
Green beans- handful, diced small, at an angle
Garlic- 1 tablespoon, chopped (around 3-4 big cloves); plus 1 teaspoon for marinade (around 1 clove)
Boneless chicken/prawn/ tofu- 250 grams; chopped into bite size pieces
Soy Sauce- 2 tablespoons; plus 1 teaspoon for marinade
Eggs – 2
Cooked Rice- 2 cups (please use day-old rice)
Pepper powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Method
1. Marinate protein (chicken/prawn/tofu) with half teaspoon soy sauce, and chopped garlic while you get everything ready.
2. Heat oil in a wok / kadhai which has room for tossing rice. Fry onion for a minute till soft, but not fully browned.
3. Then add carrots, green beans, and garlic. Saute for a while until carrots become glossy and become brighter orange (semi-cooked).
4. Add in butter. It will look like a lot, but doesn’t matter.
5. As the butter melts, throw your protein of choice in the pool of melted butter. Stir all this on high heat until protein is semi-cooked and no longer looks raw. For prawns, this happens when they start becoming opaque and turn pink.
6. As soon as protein is cooked, add in two eggs, scrambling quickly.
7. Before the eggs get overcooked, add in your rice. Stir on high heat, so rice is coated with all this buttery eggy chicken deliciousness. Toss rice well, and ensure it is mixed with other ingredients.
8. Sprinkle soy sauce and stir again. TASTE. If this is salty enough stop here. Add some pepper powder. If it is not salty enough, add more soy sauce or salt. Keep tossing in wok / kadhai for just 5 minutes before serving.
Expert note: I added a splodge of butter again in the end right before serving. Just for good measure. Enjoy!
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