Thursday, March 1, 2012

Leftovers Night: "Really Risqué" Fried Rice with Tofu

          Last night's supper was inspired by two things.  First, and foremost, we had leftovers that needed to be eaten or pitched.
          While not officially part of our Lenten discipline (though it probably should be) we are also trying to be more organized about what we'll actually eat.  With two people working it's easy to imagine that we will have time to cook, and then not have that time, and wind up throwing out food.  So, using leftovers creatively is a goal here.
          The other inspiration was my memory of how much we both loved earlier explorations of this dish!  This is a great recipe if you are new to stir-frying or new to wok cooking.  It's very easy and the flavors are wonderful.

Really Risqué Fried Rice (with Tofu) [adapted from Wok Fast by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison, Ten Speed Press, (c) 2002.]
4 c cold cooked rice (white or brown)
1/2 c pine nuts
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
3 scallions (didn't have any, so used 1 regular onion, chopped)
3 T oil (I used olive, my standard go-to)
1/2 c currants (didn't have any, forgot to add raisins!)
some tofu - this isn't in the original recipe, but I was looking to add some protein and make this a one dish supper, so I diced some leftover tofu into small squares, and tossed it in with the onions and peppers

"Really Risqué" Sauce (not sure why they call it this - it's not spicy or anything!)
1/4 c dry sherry
1/4 c tomato sauce (I had some home-made tomato paste to use up, so used that - it gave a slightly stronger than expected tomato flavor, but tasted good)
3 T oyster sauce
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T dark sesame oil (I only had regular and it was fine)
2 t cornstarch
1/2 t freshly ground pepper

1. Make the sauce - mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Put the cold rice in a ziploc bag and break up all of the clumpy bits.
3. Toast the pine nuts in a skillet until golden brown.
4. Stir fry your chopped veggies and tofu until cooked, but still firm.
5. Add the rice - cook until heated through.
6. Add the sauce - cook until hot.
7. Toss in the pine nuts just before serving.

2 comments:

Lynn said...

I'm thinking they call it Risque' because of the oyster sauce. (Oysters are supposed to be an aphrodesiac???) 'Course, I may be wrong. I've been wrong before. ONCE. ha

Fran said...

Ha! :) It's really good.