MONDAY MORNING RECIPE - CHINESE SAUSAGE FRIED RICE

I forgot to take a photo of this one but fortunately my dear other half did.  

I found this recipe on Instagram.  The name is Mags Spiced Kitchen.  Her video - at this link - is short but you can rewind it as often as you need to, and she also provides written instructions.  

When we lived in California many, many years ago (we have been in our present home since 1991), among our neighbors we had several Chinese-Americans we counted as friends, and one very dear lady who was a very special friend.  Now I come to think of it, she was probably my age at the time.  

She opened up the world for me and I loved listening to stories of her life.  She and I would chat for hours and occasionally she would come over when Gregg was home.  When I was away visiting my family, she brought him meals every day.  Back in those days he didn't cook and she took care of him like he was her own son.  Originally from Shanghai, she was widowed and eventually moved to Hawaii, bringing up five children on her own.  One of her daughters moved to our neighborhood with her family, and our friend would visit for the summer, eventually moving in permanently.  We were delighted when she became a permanent neighbor.  We met originally when I was out in the garden and I saw her walking up the hill.  I smiled, said hello and she stopped to chat.  We hit it off right away and stayed close friends until she sadly passed.  She certainly enriched our lives by knowing her. 

Gregg and I went down memory lane the other day, and we talked about our dear old friend.  I remembered one of the dishes she made us was a stir-fry with Chinese sausage.  I said to Gregg we should find a recipe and that's what we did.  

It wasn't long after that I found Mags Spiced Kitchen.  This is a real simple version, and it comes together quickly.  It might not have lived up to the memory of our dear friend’s dish but it was very close, absolutely delicious and will be made again.

Chinese Sausage Fried Rice

As read on Mag's recipe: "Chinese sausage, also known as lap cheong, has a unique combination of smoky, sweet, salty flavors."

3 links of Chinese Sausage/lap cheong

2 cups day old cold rice

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons oil, divided

1/4 onion, diced

1 scallion/green onion, white and green parts divided

Sauce:

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon chili (optional)

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Cut Chinese sausages into thin slices and set aside.

Crack 2 eggs into a bowl and add salt.  Beat until whites and yolks are evenly blended.

Make the sauce: combine ingredients listed. 

Heat wok on high until smoking.  Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and pour in the eggs.  Scramble until 80% cooked.  Transfer and set aside.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok on medium heat.  Add diced onion and white parts of the scallions/green onions.  Stir a few minutes until fragrant.

Add the Chinese sausage and stir for a few minutes until cooked through, and browned in parts.  Don't cook for too long as I read overcooking renders out too much fat and cause the sausage to become too salty. *See note below recipe.  

Add the cold rice.  Stir and break up any clumps.

Pour the sauce mix around the wok and stir until everything is well combined.

Add the eggs back until mixed throughout.

Add the green parts of the scallions/green onions, and turn off the heat.  

Stir one last time and serve.

What did we think? 

No doubt about it, we thought it was a ten out of ten.  We made double the recipe because we wanted a meal for the next day, knowing that the flavors would have a chance to deepen.  They did, it was even better and that's saying something.   

*We got our sausage from a local Asian supermarket, brand shown below.  It was found in the frozen section.

There are many different types and brands of this kind of sausage, with different tastes, all good no doubt.  Ours was made with chicken and pork and will be our go to brand from now on.  The Spruce shares two methods of cooking.  We used the instructions for stir frying.  Click and scroll down a bit on this link to read.

A real simple meal and a favorite with many, is to put a few slices of Chinese sausage on top of steamed rice.  I wouldn't mind trying that sometime.  Sounds even easier to make than this recipe, definitely.  Would be a quick snack.

We didn't use day-old rice but used our tried-and-true Trader Joe's Jasmine Rice and the same brand brown rice.  We had a packet of each in the freezer and made them both for those leftovers the next day.  There are two servings in one pouch.

We don't have a wok and used a large frying pan.

For our own personal taste we thought we would add Thai basil next time.

Also would like to add veggies such as diced carrot and sweet red pepper.  Small broccoli florets might be nice.

That's it!  If I remember anything else I will add as I think about it.