American Fried Rice

First year of medical school, Mr. lived with two of his classmates. Both really chill, nice guys, they are also both Chinese-American. Why does that matter? Because they taught Mr. how to cook Fried Rice. Toward the end of first year as I was about to move in, all three boys made dinner, and I - one of the pickiest eaters ever - tried fried rice for the first time. It was fine and probably made wonderfully, but when it came my turn to make it, I put my own (bland Americana) twist on it.

I call it American Fried Rice.


It's a pretty balanced dish and really inexpensive to make, so here's what you need:

• Vegetable Oil (or whatever oil you prefer)
• 3 cups of rice (day-old works best, but you can make it fresh as well)
• 3 hot dogs, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/2 cup? (I eyeball it...) of frozen peas
• 1/2 cup (again, eyeball) of frozen corn
• (any other veggies you want to include)
• 3 eggs
• Salt/pepper and any other seasoning you'd like
  

Here's how you do it:

1. If not using day-old rice, cook rice.
2. Scramble eggs with salt and pepper in separate bowl and set aside.
3. Chop hot dogs into 1/2" cubes (or smaller)
4. Pour a little bit of oil in a large pan over medium heat and move pan to coat with a thin layer of oil.
5. Cook hot dogs
6. Add corn, peas & any other veggies to the pan to cook for roughly 5 minutes.
7. Add rice to the pan, and stir all ingredients together.
8. Add eggs to the pan and stir so that everything is mixed well
9. Continue to fry until the egg mixture is coating all of the rice and is no longer raw.
10. Turn off heat and serve!

As a main dish, this makes about 4 servings. As a side dish, I imagine it makes about 8 servings.

If you have picky kids, this recipe might be worth a shot! :) I do, after all, have the palate of a 5 year-old...