I was in a mood for something flavorful and spicy, but also had a lot of odds and ends floating around the fridge. Instead of resorting to a takeout, which is undoubtedly always my first instinct, I decided to whip up a fried rice dish. For me, fried rice is always the best way to use up any boring leftovers.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 4 servings / 1.28 EUR per serving / 5.11  EUR for all)

For fried rice:

1 chicken breast (2.67 EUR)

½ tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

2 tbsp corn starch (0.07 EUR)

5 tbsp sunflower seed oil, divided (0.03 EUR)

2 large carrots (0.13 EUR)

1 red bell pepper (0.20 EUR)

3 cloves of garlic (0.10 EUR)

¼ small head of cabbage (0.20 EUR)

1 onion (0.10 EUR)

2 cups precooked rice (0.20 EUR)

For teriyaki sauce:

1/3 cup soy sauce (0.33 EUR)

½ cup warm water (–)

1 tbsp corn starch (0.03 EUR)

2 tbsp honey (0.27 EUR)

1 tsp toasted sesame oil (0.07 EUR)

Pinch of cayenne pepper (0.03 EUR)

Additional:

4 tbsp crushed cashews for serving (0.67 EUR)

METHOD:

Dice the chicken, sprinkle with salt and let sit for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, wash, peel and thinly slice all the vegetables so you have everything ready once you start cooking, as it’s gonna go quickly. Place wok on high heat to get it thoroughly warmed up. Toss chicken with corn starch.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil to hot wok and half of the chicken. Stir-fry for a few minutes, until chicken is crispy and golden. Remove chicken from wok and then repeat the process with remaining meat and fresh 2 tablespoons of oil. If necessary, deglaze the pan in between. Once you removed the chicken, add a bit of water to wok, place it back on high heat and scrape all the bits off with a spatula. Allow most of the water to evaporate, but be sure to reserve this sauce with all its delicious bits for later.

Once all the meat is done and you did another deglazing, add remaining oil to the wok and gradually add in thinly sliced carrots, bell pepper, garlic, cabbage and onion, following this order. Stir-fry for a minute or two before adding in each new vegetable. Return chicken to the wok, add precooked rice and stir everything well.

In a bowl, quickly whisk together all sauce ingredients and add the sauce all the juices left over from deglazing the pan. Pour sauce over veggie, meat and rice mixture in wok, give everything a good stir and cook for a few seconds, just until the sauce thickens. Serve immediately sprinkled with crushed cashews.

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Jelo mi se nešto bogatog okusa i začinjeno, ali sam imala i hrpu nekakvih ostataka koji su mi se povlačili po frižideru. Umjesto da pribjegnem tome da naručium dostavu, što mi je bez dvojbe uvijek prvi instinkt, na brzinu sam smutila ovu prženu rižu. Jer za mene je pržena riža uvijek najbolji način za iskoristiti dosadne ostatke hrane.

SASTOJCI:

(Za 4 porcije / 9,57 kn po porciji / 38,26 kn za sve)

Za prženu rižu:

1 pileća prsa (20,00 kn)

½ žličice soli (0,01 kn)

2 žlice kukuruznog škroba (0,50 kn)

5 žlica suncokretovog ulja, podijeljene (0,25 kn)

2 velike mrkve (1,00 kn)

1 crvena paprika (1,50 kn)

3 češnja češnjaka (0,75 kn)

¼ male glavice kupusa (1,50 kn)

1 luk (0,75 kn)

2 šalice kuhane riže (1,50 kn)

Za teriyaki umak:

1/3 šalice soja sosa (2,50 kn)

½ šalice tople vode (–)

1 žlica kukuruznog škroba (0,25 kn)

2 žlice meda (2,00 kn)

1 žličica tostiranog sezamovog ulja (0,50 kn)

Prstohvat kajenskog papra (0,25 kn)

Dodatno:

4 žlice drobljenih indijskih oraščića za posluživanje (5,00 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Narežite piletinu na kockice, posolite i ostavite da odstoji 20-tak minuta. U međuvremenu operite, očistite i tanko narežite svo povrće kako bi bilo spremno kada krenete kuhati, jer će sve ići jako brzo. Stavite wok na jaku vatru da se dobro ugrije. Piletinu pomiješajte sa kukuruznim škrobom.

U vrući wok dodajte 2 žlice ulja i pola piletine. Pržite uz miješanje nekoliko minuta, dok piletina ne bude hruskava i zlatna. Maknite meso iz woka i ponovite sa ostatkom piletine i nove 2 žlice ulja. Po potrebi prethodno otopite sve sedimente koji su se skupili u woku od prženja mesa, i to tako da dodate u wok mrvicu vode i nad vatrom špahtlom postružete sve što se za wok prilijepilo. Pustite da većina vode ispari prije nego što ćete takav umak, sa svim ukusnim mrvicama od pečenja sačuvati za kasnije.

Kada je svo meso gotovo i još ste jednom otopili sve mesne sedimente, dodajte preostalu žlicu ulja i postepeno ubacujte tanko narezane mrkvu, papriku, češnjak, kupus i luk, i to slijedeći ovaj redoslijed. Svaki puta minutu-dvije miješajte i pržite prije nego dodate novo povrće. Vratite piletinu u wok, dodajte kuhanu rižu te sve dobro promiješajte.

U zdjelici brzo pomiješajte sve sastojke za umak skupa sa umakom koji ste sačuvali od prženja mesa. Prelijte preko mješavine povrća, mesa i riže te sve dobro pomiješajte. Kuhajte par sekundi, samo dok se umak ne zgusne. Poslužite odmah posipano sa drobljenim indijskim oraščićima.