Low-Carb Fried “Rice”, for when Regular Rice Isn't Nice

 

 

In this house, I cook for three (The Bat, Pop, and myself), and too often the cuts of meat I can buy are too big for a single meal. Leftovers, therefore, are a regular thing.

Sometimes, The Bat and I throw together soup or stew, sometimes sandwiches, and sometimes… sometimes… we go crazy and I make fried rice. Except that, recently, I've been put on a lower-carb plan, and I have a friend or two with even tighter restrictions on starches and sugars, so rice (being one of the starchiest of starchy foods) is a pretty much no-no. Naturally, this means playing with substitutions.

If you like working from scratch, you can prepare your own cauliflower rice in advance, but I felt flush enough to buy some already prepared (from the freezer section of my local supermarket). With that, it needs to be completely thawed and allowed to drain and dry out a bit. You can also use rinsed and drained hearts of palm "rice" (such as Palmini) in the same recipe – I like it a lot, but it's often hard to find, out here in the sticks. So cauliflower it is, for us, today.

The trick to cooking any fried rice, is, of course, to have everything lined up in advance (mise en place, people!), so you have it ready to stir in quickly, without any pause in your operation. Further, it's best to have most of the ingredients at room temperature before cooking. Cook your meat and mushrooms as far in advance as a day or two, and store them, covered, in the refrigerator (marinating the strips of meat overnight in a combination of deglazed pan drippings and a teaspoon or so of soy sauce gives it a little something extra, as well), but bring everything out to stand at least 20 minutes before you start cooking. 

As soon as you start the heat on your stove, you'll just keep adding and adding, letting each layer get fully heated up before adding the next, until the last, tenderest leafy item is heated to just shy of your liking (let it come to completion off the burner, on its way to the table).                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                

Fried "Rice", Low-Carb Style

Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar substitute (I like erythritol)
2 – 3 Tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated 
1 small carrot, diced small or very coarsely grated (up to 1/4 cup)
1 small onion (about 1/4 cup or less – to taste), minced
1 cup riced cauliflower
1/4 cup leftover cooked beef, sliced into small, thin strips, & marinated in soy sauce
8 – 10 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced and stir-fried in butter until slightly crisp
1 cup broccoli florets
2 – 3 heads baby bok choi, chopped coarsely
3 – 4 medium scallions, chopped finely

Directions: 

In a small bowl, beat eggs, soy sauce, and sugar substitute thoroughly (you don't want blobs of egg white showing up). Set aside.

On stove top at high setting, bring oil and lemon zest to shimmering heat in wok or frying pan; add in carrot and cook just until tender. Add onion, cook until it becomes somewhat transparent. Stir in cauliflower, coating it well with oil, and cook until the onion and carrots begin to brown. Add in egg mixture, stir well (and scrape the bottom of the pan to keep it from sticking), cooking until eggs show signs of setting up. Scoop the meat out of the marinade*, allow a second for it to drain, and add meat to pan, bring to full heat, then add mushrooms and heat, then broccoli, and finally the baby bok choi and scallions.

Cook only until the bok choi leaves start to wilt,  remove from heat, and serve.



*you can freeze the meat marinade for use in a later dish, such as noodles or even scrambled eggs, for a bit of a kick. Since there's nothing raw in it, it's even safe to just drizzle over your roasted skinny asparagus.

The only real rule about this kind of dish is that you should use ingredients you like to eat. Almost anything can be substituted for something else on the list, in whatever flavor combinations and proportions will float your boat. But for it to meet your own dietary restrictions, check with health professionals for more specific guidelines. As it stands, this one falls into the relatively keto-friendly range.

Addendum: lots of chefs, these days, tell you to scramble & cook up the eggs first, and stir them in as a separate item. However, The Bat taught me what she learned from Buwei Yang Chao's  How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, and that is to add the eggs to the oily, heated rice. I find that it gives the dish an almost creamy finish, as opposed to having eggy lumps distracting me from the other flavors and textures. It does mean you have to be more aware of the potential for sticking to the pan, but firm, swift stirring with a good spatula can reduce or even prevent that.