TEST POST
Quick supper of Chinese sausage fried rice – two cooked and thinly sliced Chinese sausage, diced red and orange peppers, peas, white part of a green onion, two Thai red chilis with seeds left in, scrambled egg, 2 cups of cold leftover sushi rice seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce and toasted sesame oil and garnished with thinly sliced green onion tops.
For a recipe/technique, check out Uncle Nigel on Youtube. He’s a hoot.
Inari sushi are one of my favourite specialty sushi at the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants I frequent. If you’re watching your pocket book, however, they’re a snap to make at home with just a few ingredients. Traditionally filled with cooked and seasoned sushi rice, they may be served plain or topped with egg salad, tuna salad or a variety of other sushi fillings. I’ve also filled the tofu pockets with a somen noodle seafood mixture and with leftover Arborio seasoned Korean style (Yubu Chobap).
You can make your own fried and seasoned tofu pockets, but why bother, when you can buy a can of 16 half pockets for a fairly reasonable price (~$5 CDN, locally) and save yourself the mess? Leftover tofu pockets freeze well in the seasoning liquid once the can has been opened, so they’re practical for single diners.
Seasoned Fried Tofu Pockets
Lap Cheong Sausage Inari Sushi
Lap Cheong Sausage Inari Sushi – makes 15-16 inari sushi
1 cup raw sushi rice, cook as per package instructions
4 lap cheong sausages
2-3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar to season the cooked sushi rice
1 can Hime brand inarizushi
Optional add-ins:
1/4 cup of finely cubed cooked carrot, thawed frozen peas or thawed corn kernels (omitted)
6-8 shiso leaves, julienned
a couple of sweet Japanese thin omelettes (usuyaki tamago), rolled and cut into 1/8 inch strips
Once cooked, you’ll have about 3 cups of rice, enough to fill 15-16 inari sushi. When cooking the sushi rice, lay the sausages over the top of the rice, cook, then remove the sausages and dice. Add the diced sausage to the cooked rice and cut in along with the rice vinegar.
For ease of stuffing the tofu pockets, use 2-3 tablespoons of the rice mixture, shape into an oval and insert it into the opened tofu pocket.
While browsing the Fridgg website, I decided to google the term ‘quinoa’ and ran across this great idea for a fried rice dish using quinoa. There was no need to add any protein to the dish, other than the traditional fried egg, but I like to go above and beyond whenever possible.
Shrimp and Chinese Sausage Quinoa Fried “Rice” – makes 4 cups, about 3 servings
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup carrot, small dice
3 large mushrooms, medium dice
1 small pepper (red, orange or yellow), small dice
2 green onions, bottoms added to the saute and tops used as garnish
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 large raw shrimp, peeled and tailed, halved and diced
1 raw Chinese sausage, halved and diced
1 large egg, slightly beaten
~ 3 cups cooked quinoa
2 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce
shake or two ground white pepper
In a large saute pan, add the butter and oil and over medium heat, saute the carrot, pepper, onion bottoms and mushrooms until the carrots are tender. Add the peas, shrimp and sausage and fry for a couple of minutes until the shrimp are white and the peas are warmed through.
Push the veggies and meat to one side and add the beaten egg to the cleared area. Fry for a minute or two until the egg is almost completely set and then stir into the veggie and meat mixture.
Add the cooked quinoa, mix into the veggie and meat mixture and sprinkle the soy sauce and ground white pepper over the top. Stir through and taste. Add more soy sauce if needed.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 