Raphe asked for it this morning and I was happy to oblige. When I’m stressed out, overworked or just a little blue, I almost always make myself fried rice. It’s quick. It’s simple. It’s satisfying.
It helps make a crappy week seem a little bit further away.
Spam and scrambled eggs over garlic rice for breakfast was always one of my favorite things about visiting the Philippines. Maybe it was the musubi, maybe it was just the need to use up the cans of Spam in the pantry; whatever it was, the boyfriend has been converted to the cause.
Here’s our lightened up version with thin cut, crispy Spam and spinach salad instead of fried rice.
T-minus one day until the launch of Multicultural Familia™!
Multicultural Familia™ is a new online magazine focusing on multicultural individuals and families founded by Chantilly Patiño of Bicultural Mom. Dozens of independent bloggers are coming together to discuss issues of race and culture in parenting, growing up and striking out on one’s own in today’s multicultural world.
I (Marni) will be contributing articles on cross/multicultural cooking and sharing experiences growing up in a multicultural family.
See the official press release here.
Join us!
As a child of a multicultural family, fried rice holds a special place in my heart. While keeping the flavors and ingredients of my own families’ food near and dear, it provides the ultimate canvas for experimenting with flavors and ingredients from other countries and cultures.
Kielbasa and cabbage fried rice
Fried rice was never a “special” meal in my Filipino-American household. Rather, it was a common occurence after family gatherings and holidays like Easter or Thanksgiving. Events with a surplus of roasted meat and steamed jasmine rice. Some families had hotdish or stew to clean out those kinds of leftovers – we had fried rice.
 Eggs make it breakfast, right? |
 Pierogies on the side |
 Cube it up into little nibble-size pieces |
Our fried rice had no bounds – honey glazed ham, hamonada, roast turkey, bratwurst, Spam, chicken breast, lima beans, corn, peas, carrots, cole-slaw mix – it all went in with a couple of scrambled eggs, soy sauce and garlic. Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and American cuisine all rolled into one warm comforting dish.
Saute the onions, then the veggies and pre-cooked sausage. Your nose will thank you.
Today, I keep the multicultural fried rice tradition alive in my Pakistani-Polish-Mexican neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. Jasmine rice is hard to come by, so I’ve embraced the longer grained basmati rice favored by my Pakistani neighbors. After six years in New Mexico, my palette still cries out for chiles, so we crank up the heat on an otherwise mild, savory dish. Raphe will roast Southern-style chickens with paprika and beer on a regular basis, throwing the beer drippings into the rice cooker. The rice, chicken and even the gravy end up in fried rice a few days later.
Crack the eggs right in there. This is a one skillet meal.
