Chicken and Mushrooms Fried Rice

In making fried rice, typically, there are the basics - rice, garlic, oil. But in our home, it is always a smorgasbord of whatever is in our kitchen and pantry.

This dish is called Chicken and Mushrooms Fried Rice. We had left-over rotisserie chicken and some Portobello mushrooms, and I thought it would go well with the day-old rice sitting in the fridge.

It might look like an overload of mushrooms, but believe me, those mushrooms would be reduced to near nothing faster than the Chairman could say "Allez Cuisine!"


What you need:

2 cups of cooked rice
1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken
2 cups of Portobello mushrooms, caps sliced and stems discarded
1 bunch green onions, cut horizontally
1 large carrot, diced
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 eggs, scrambled
1 tbsp. soy sauce
dash of Five-Spice powder
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil, for frying

What to do:

Heat around 2 - 3 tbsps of olive oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the garlic, saute until aromatic. Add the mushrooms and the carrots. Let the mushrooms reduce to half their size, then put in the chicken. Stir for 1 minute.

Put in the rice. Add more olive oil (we used sesame oil) if it looks dry and starts sticking at the bottom of your frying pan. Throw in the scrambled eggs and green onions. Spice it up by adding the soy sauce, a dash or two of Five-Spice powder, and some salt and pepper. Continue stirring until the rice is heated through. Serve hot!


Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks:

1. You can opt to omit the Five-Spice powder if you don't like the distinct Chinese taste and aroma it gives.
2. If you don't have chicken, any cooked meat will do - hotdog, ham, shrimp, pork chops... just cut it into small pieces.
3. Make sure to clean the mushrooms THOROUGHLY. Wash them and dry with paper towels. Individually.
4. For texture, you can use other veggies like snap peas, water chestnuts, green peas, etc.
5. Cook the rice ahead of time and refrigerate. When cooking, it is best when cold and separated (through mashing), as you don't want lumpy fried rice.
6. Make sure your pan or wok is big enough to hold all the ingredients!