Ham Fried Rice

 

A quick disclosure for this recipe; I eat SPAM. I eat SPAM because my grandma grew up in Hawaii and ate it as a kid, she fed it to her kids, and her kids fed it to me. What does this have to do with Ham Fried Rice? Ham is actually a lot like SPAM. plus I have lots of leftover ham from Thanksgiving. Just like ham, you can eat SPAM in omeletts, over ramen, in sandwiches, fried with a side of eggs and my favorite: SPAM fried rice. For those of you that will never convert, Ham Fried Rice will be the closest you'll ever get to the lovely taste of SPAM.

Ham Fried Rice
3-4 cups of leftover cooked rice
2 tbs peanut oil or sesame oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 onion chopped
1 clove of garlic chopped
1 tbs garlic chopped
1/2 cup of peas
1 carrot chopped
1 cup of ham
2 eggs
4 tbs soy sauce
salt and pepper
Sliced green onions for garnish

This recipe should be done in a wok or a well aged skillet. I learned a couple of days ago while cooking this recipe in a friends nice new pan, that the fried rice will not yield the same flavor. Just think old=flavor.

With your skillet or wok on med-high heat add the sesame oil and peanut oil. Swirl the oil so it coats the pan. Add in your garlic and ginger, careful not to burn. After about half a minute add in the onions, once those three items become aromatic add your carrots, ham and peas and cook for about 5 minutes until tender.

Now we get to add the eggs. Build a well in the middle of the veggies and ham so that you have about a 5 inch wide circle. If your pan is getting dry, add a tad bit of oil to fry the egg. pour the eggs into the well and cook, scrambling the eggs along the way.

Once the eggs are cooked, add the cooked rice. The rice should stick a bit to the sides (think of it like they are caramelizing and picking up flavor) but don't let it stick so much that the rice burns.  Keep stirring the rice around and add soy sauce, pepper and salt. The rice should look light brown in color by the time it's done.