Mushroom Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of my favorites and I never seem to get my appetite filled with these. I am not sure if its becasue of the lightness of the dish or because it tastes so good..I can keep eating bowls of fried rice before I realize I am full...I often overeat and go "What is things made of?"..Sadly, I do the same thing when I make it!! Can't relate to this?? hmmn...Maybe its just me? 
So, I do try to make a lot of different varieties of fried rice each week..and mushrooms are sooo good for this because of the earthiness, the asian flavor, and the beautiful natural color it gives to the rice.. This version of mushroom fried rice combines mushrooms and celery without overpowering the dish with other veggies..
And thank god this is one of the rare lunch boxes my kids dont bring back home.. :) I am sure there are many moms here who can relate to this!! Come on!! Pls dont tell me your kids finish their lunch boxes! I'll be heart broken :P :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 2 1/4 cups
Red Onion - 1 large, thinly diced
Mushrooms, brown/white - 25-30, thinly sliced
Celery - 2 stalks, thinly sliced
Chilli-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Olive Oil - 1-2 Tbsps
Pepper - 1 tsp (or to taste)
Salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook the rice in a rice cooker with the mentioned amount of water and a tsp of oil and salt. Let it cool and separate the cooked rice gently with a fork.
2. Heat oil in a wok or kadai in a high flame and add onions and saute until golden. 
3. Add mushrooms, celery and salt and let the veggies cook and soften.
4. Now add pepper, chilli-garlic paste and toss together until mixed.
5. Add the cooked rice and gently mix. Adjust salt, pepper to taste. 

Tips:
Adding salt to the veggies makes it cook faster and remember to do this whole thing in high flame so that the veggies dont lose their color and end up looking pale.
I use Kikkoman chilli garlic paste and that's my go to sauce for several dishes. You can try any brand that is your favorite. This paste is optional if you are primarily making the dish for kids as it could make the fried rice a little spicier. 

Chinese Fried Rice

My husband and I recently got chinese fried rice and orange chicken at the mall and guess who loved it the most?? Yes! my 18mth old..those days are gone by when kids used to eat paruppu sadham (dal rice) and thayir sadham (yoghurt rice) everyday without any trouble..Now all that they like are pasta, noodles, fried rice..
So this is my version of chinese fried rice I regularly make..and recently my daughter's fav..

Servings: 4 

Ingredients:

Rice - 2 cups (rice cooker cup)
Water - 2 1/2 cups
Eggs - 4
Onion, diced - 1 medium
Mixed Vegetables - 2 cups
Shredded chicken - 1 cup
Ginger, grated - 1/2 Tbsp
Garlic, grated - 3 cloves
Olive Oil - 3-4 Tbsp
Sugar - 1pinch
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Ajinomoto - 1 pinch (optional)
Sauces:

Dark soy sauce - 1/2 Tbsp

Chili Soy - 1/2 Tbsp

Red Chili Sauce (like Sriracha) - 1/2 Tbsp 

Ketchup - 1/2 Tbsp

Method:

1. Cook rice in a rice cooker with 2 1/2 cups of water, 2 tsps of salt and 1/2 Tbsp of oil and once cooked, let it cool down.
2. Take a saute pan and scramble 4 eggs with salt and pepper. Remove from the pan and shred into tiny pieces and keep aside.
3. Take cooked chicken strips and shred into small pieces with your hand and sauté it in the same pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
4. To the same pan, add some more oil, and add the onions, ginger and garlic and sauté until the raw smell goes away. 
5. Now, add all the veggies, sugar, salt and pepper and sauté in high flame until cooked through. The sugar keeps the veggies retain their color and cooking in high flame allows the veggies to get cooked quickly without wilting them.
6. Mix all the sauces from above to a paste. 
7. Once the veggies are done, add the chicken, scrambled eggs, rice and the sauces and mix together in low flame for 2-3 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper and remove from heat.

I used grilled chicken strips from Costco that I always have in my refrigerator for this. You can use chicken breast and just sauté it in the pan with salt, olive oil, pepper and shred it. If you like yours much spicier, you can increase the Sriracha to 1 or 1/2 Tbsps.