Fried Rice with Beef Stir-Fry

Fried rice is something I have always been scared to make at home. I guess I’m a casserole and slow-cooker person so cooking things over high heat on the stove kind of stresses me out. But! I finally decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! It was amazing! Adding the sesame oil and oyster sauce made it taste JUST like we had ordered at a restaurant! The beef recipe I used for this meal is something I found off of Allrecipes.com and tweaked a little to fit our tastes. Everything turned out so delicious! It was very hard to be the bigger person and let my husband eat the small amount of leftovers for lunch the next day… lol!

Fried Rice

4 c. cooked white rice, COLD

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

2 cans mixed peas and carrots

2 eggs (my husband suggests 3 or 4)

1 onion, chopped

Soy sauce, to taste

Sesame oil, to taste

Oyster sauce, to taste

1. Cook up the rice a day before hand and place in the refrigerator. This may seem weird, but if you use rice you made the day of, then it will all clump together and won’t be separated like fried rice is supposed to be.

2. Beat eggs and pour into a small saucepan. Don’t stir; just cook them like a crepe. When the eggs are cooked all the way through, remove from heat and roll into a cigar-shape. Cut the egg into slices and set aside.

3. Heat oil in wok on high heat. Toss in onions, peas, and carrots and cook until tender. Toss in cooked rice and egg.

4. Here is where you go off of what you want your rice to taste like. I threw in a couple of tablespoons of sesame oil (be careful—a little goes a long way!) and about a 1/4^th of a bottle of oyster sauce (this is what gives the rice a restaurant-taste). Then I just added soy sauce until it was salty enough for us!

Beef Stir-Fry

1 lb. beef round steak, thinly sliced

1 Tbs. sesame oil

9 Tbs. soy sauce

6 Tbs. rice wine

3. Tbs. brown sugar

1 ½ tsp. cornstarch

1 Tbs. minced garlic

1 Tbs. minced ginger

Veggies of your choice! (which I totally forgot to pick up at the Commissary...)

1. Make sure your steak is sliced very thin so it will come out extra tender! Combine soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl.

2. Heat wok to medium-high heat and stir fry garlic and ginger in the sesame oil for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook for 2 minutes, or until evenly browned. Add the vegetables you prefer (I like to microwave mine so get them extra soft) and stir fry for an additional 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens. Enjoy!