Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

This is one cheap meal. And everything is cooked in one pan. You can't get much cheaper than rice, veggies and chicken. Oh, and you add two eggs to make my Chicken Fried Rice.

I marinade the chicken in a couple of sauces that I get from my local 99c only Store. Most regular grocery stores sell soy sauce and oyster sauce. If you can't find oyster sauce then use easy-to-get Teriyaki or Sweet and Sour sauce.

For chicken you only need a half breast or a leg quarter (combined leg and thigh.) So your stir fry can be white or dark meat, it's up to you. I take off the skin and slice the meat off the bone. You can purchase boneless and skinless chicken for convenience and more money. You could also just saute the large chicken segments with skin and bone and break it down later.

I get chicken from my local Latin market for 99 cent per pound or less.

The main thing is to use cooked/steamed rice. And it's best if the rice has been in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight. This allows the rice grains to separate and slightly dry out, so they don't get soggy when refrying. Anyway I always have leftover rice in the freezer. So just defrost it if you have any.

Everything is sauteed in a wok or a large frying pan and it all come together quickly. Also, my Chicken Fried Rice microwaves well the next day(s).

This is the first in my Cheapie Chicken Recipe Series, so check back as I have a coopfull of tasty entrees for you for the rest of the month, including a Fried Chicken Sandwich video.

Ingredients (about 2 servings)

• 1 pound of chicken - a half breast or leg quarter (thigh and leg,) or any favorite combination. Cut into bite sized pieces. You can also just saute whole chicken piece in marinade and slice it off the bone.
• 2 cups cooked rice - I mixed brown and white rice. Follow package directions. Best to let cooked rice set a couple hours in the refrigerator or overnight. 1 cup of uncooked rice makes 2 cups of cooked.
• 1/4 cup frozen peas - defrosted (canned are too mushy.)
• 1/2 carrot - about a 1/4 cup peeled and chopped. I used shredded from the bag.
• 2 green onions - sliced, about 1/4 cup, include green stem. Okay to substitute with regular white or yellow onion.
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic - fresh or from jar.
• 2 eggs - scramble
  
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil - or sesame oil, for sauteing veggies and chicken.
• Pepper to taste - optional. No salt necessary as soy sauce has plenty.

* Add more or less carrot, peas and onion to suit your taste.

Chicken Marinade

• 1/2 teaspoon ginger - chopped or grated. I used it from a jar. Okay to use powdered ginger.
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic - chopped. I used it from a jar.
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce - I used low sodium.
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce - or a favorite Oriental sauce like Teriyaki or Sweet and Sour. If you use Teriyaki or Sweet and Sour sauce then leave out honey, as it's now plenty sweet.
• 1 teaspoon honey or favorite sweetener.

Directions
First cook 1 cup of rice according to package directions (brown rice takes a little longer to steam.) Best to refrigerate overnight, or at least a couple of hours. This allows rice grains to set and separate -- so it doesn't get too mushy during stir frying. My recipe uses 2 cups of cooked rice.

Remove skin and slice chicken off the bone (or use boneless and skinless) and add to a bowl. Pour in the marinade ingredients and mix well. You can let the chicken set in the marinade (in the refrigerator) for half an hour, or go right to sauteing.

If you don't want to fool with removing the bone then just saute the chicken whole and remove the flesh when it cools down. It takes longer to cook the chicken all the way through, so add extra cooking time.

Over a medium hot, wide pan, add oil and get the pan hot. Next put in the chicken with marinade. Saute the chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Slice into largest chicken piece, it's done when there is no pink color or pink juices. 

When chicken is done, move it to a plate or bowl and set aside while you make the fried rice.

Add tablespoon oil to a medium/high heating pan. Add carrot, peas and green onion. Stir fry about 2 minutes to desired tenderness. I like my veggies a little crunchy.

Add cooked rice and mix well. Heat though about 2 minutes, continuously stirring to heat up all the rice.

Add cooked chicken and heat through for a minute. Push it aside with veggies and leave space for the rice.

Finally, push the veggies, chicken and rice to the edge of pan, forming a clear space in the middle of the pan.

Add 2 eggs and lightly scramble. (You could also pre-cook the scrambled egg and add it at this stage.) When egg is almost cooked through and firm, mix it into the rice, veggies and chicken. Cook another minute.

I like larger pieces of egg to show in my stir fry, so I don't break it up too much. Mix well and serve hot.

Hindsight
And this recipe is easy to double, if you are feeding a brood, or want leftovers to bring for lunch during the week - it reheats quickly and deliciously.

For the cheapest version use chicken legs or thighs. Don't worry about taking off the skin or bone. Just marinade the pieces and fry them up until done. When they cool down take the meat off the bone. You can get rid of the crispy fried skin if you want - or save it for the cook!

Add more or less chicken and veggies to suit your taste buds. Also, you can substitute broccoli or almost any favorite veggie, instead of peas and carrot.

Bok Choy Stir Fry

Tasting half way between celery and cabbage, leafy bok choy makes a crunchy and tender stir fry. And it steams quickly -- it's ready to eat in barely 5 minutes.

For my latest recipe I use my typical stir fry sauce of soy and oyster sauce. Bok choy has a subtle taste, but can handle intense Chinese flavors well.

Bok choy is showing up more at regular chain grocery stores. I picked up bok choy cheaply at Bangkok Market on Melrose Avenue, in East Hollywood. If you are looking for cheaply priced Thai noodles, chile and fish sauces, herbs and veggies, this is a great market. So you now have another reason to visit your local ethnic food stores. You can read what Yelpers say about Bangkok Market by clicking here.

Bok Choy can be simply steamed in water or a favorite broth, or made it the 99 Cent Chef stir-fry way.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds bok choy - about 3 to 5 whole ones, depending on size.
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger - okay to use powered ginger.
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic - fresh or from jar.
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water or a favorite broth
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch or flour
• Sweetener - to taste, optional.
• 1 teaspoon oil - for cooking ginger and garlic.
• Pepper to taste - no salt necessary as soy sauce has plenty.

Directions
Peel about a one inch square of ginger and slice into matchstick sizes, then chop. Peel and chop one clove of garlic. Total is about one teaspoon each. Fresh ginger has a paper thin skin that comes off easily by scrapping it away with a metal spoon.

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a wok or pan over medium heat, and add chopped ginger and garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes - stop when garlic just starts to lightly brown. Carefully add 1/4 of water or broth.

Trim off any tough and browned root end. Trim off any old bok choy leaves if necessary. Okay to split each bok choy lengthways in half if you want to, to speed up steaming.

Add bok choy to water. Bok choy cooks quickly, so you only need to cover and steam it for about 5 minutes. If the bok choy are on the small side, you can steam them uncovered.

While bok choy are steaming make the stir fry sauce. Add soy sauce and oyster sauce to a small bowl. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, or flour, and mix until dissolved. Add a little sweetener (to taste) if you like.


After bok choy is steamed tender push it to the edge of the wok and add stir fry sauce to steaming liquid, mixing well. After a minute or two the sauce will thicken into a gravy.

Coat bok choy with stir fry sauce and serve warm.

Hindsight
If you don't have Oyster Sauce, try adding a small amount of your favorite sweetener, like a teaspoon of sugar or honey to easy-to-find soy sauce and cornstarch. (Use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.) If you have a favorite Teriyaki Sauce then use that. You could also leave out the ginger.

I've also made it simply steamed in a little veggie or chicken stock (a bouillon cube dissolved in water.)

For a couple of my Oriental recipes to pair the Bok Choy Stir Fry with, just click on the entree names: Sweet and Sour Pork or Japanese Pork Cutlet.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

For this skirt steak chaser, beef is back on the menu!
I don't think I've used it in a recipe in three blogging years. 99c only Stores used to sell frozen 3 - 5 ounce super-thin beef steaks. Now a local chain grocery, Albertsons, is stocking 3 ounce, $1 Ribeye fillets in the frozen deli case. It is just the right amount for my delicious Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry.

One dollar is close enough to my price point for indulging in this bovine's most tender of cuts. Boy, how I like ribeye -- it's my favorite for grilling, and it has the right amount of marbling for sauteing. The only thing missing from these cheap packaged fillets is the bone for gnawing.

Now, three ounces for a dollar...that equals just over $5 per pound. Not the best deal, but an indulgence. I prefer to cook with a small fillet, and it's even cheaper that way. You can always buy one normal sized steak and cut it up, but the temptation is too great  -- if you are like me, you will end up eating the whole friggin' thing! I bought a few filets to freeze, so keep checking back for more budget beef entrees from this loin lover.

A cheaper way to use expensive beef is to wait until a cheaper cut is on sale. At another local chain grocery store, Ralphs, tri-tips of beef were recently priced for $2.97 per pound. It's packaged as a large 3-4 pound slab of meat -- so to get the best value, you need to break it down into single serving sizes. That way it's even cheaper than the $1 filets of ribeye steaks I found! Tri-tip is not as tender as ribeye, but it works well in a stir fry.

Well, that's my beef about beef.

I think you will like this quick and tasty Chinese restaurant classic. (My wife made it the other day and raved about it.) And if you want an entree low in carbs, then this recipe is for you.

Broccoli is always on sale. It just needs a quick 5-minute steam before you add it to sauteing beef. The stir fry sauce is made of a little chopped garlic, Oyster Sauce and Soy Sauce -- pretty simple, but very flavorful.

Ingredients for Stir Fry (1 to 2 servings)

• 3 ounces of beef - tri-tips are a cheap cut. I got a $1 ribeye steak. Cut into bite sized strips. You can add more meat to appease your appetite.
• 2 cups of broccoli - chop and peel some of the stem. Break broccoli into smaller florets.
• 1/2 cup of water - to steam broccoli.

Stir Fry Sauce

• 3 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped - fresh or from jar, optional.

Marinade for Beef

• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Corn Starch  - okay to substitute with flour.
• Pepper to taste - Soy Sauce has plenty of salt.
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil - for sauteing beef.

Directions
Mix marinade for beef in a small bowl. Slice beef into strips and add to marinade.

Mix Stir Fry Sauce into another small bowl.

While beef marinates, break and slice broccoli, with the stem, into smaller pieces. I chop off the stem and peel some of it so heat will get in and tenderize. I break and slice bigger florets into smaller sizes.

Add 1/2 cup of water to a wok, or frying pan, and bring to a low simmer. Add broccoli and cover. (Okay to steam broccoli any way you like it.) Cook for about 3-5 minutes until broccoli is tender, but still has some crunch. When done, drain off the liquid (or, reserve to make more Stir Fry Sauce - see Hindsight below) and set aside broccoli.

Put wok back on stove-top over a medium heat. Heat pan until damp wok is dry. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil. Swirl oil to coat bottom of the pan. Add beef and marinating liquid.

Cook one side of the beef about 3 - 5 minutes until almost done. Turn the beef over, then pour in the Stir Fry Sauce.

Mix well and bring to a low simmer, until it is hot. Add cooked broccoli. Mix and heat through another couple of minutes.

Serve hot over brown or white rice, or cheap cooked (and drained) ramen noodles. It's also good on its own.

Hindsight
You can substitute beef with less expensive pork or chicken (white or dark meat.) Just remove pork from the bone and cut into bite-sized pieces -- for chicken you can remove from the bone, or in the case of chicken thighs or legs, just saute them whole (will take longer to cook through, add about 10 minutes more.) May need to add a little of the reserved broccoli water broth as liquid cooks out.

If you want more sauce for the rice, just reserve a 1/4 cup of the water you used for steaming (it's now a veggie broth.) When broth cools down some, add a tablespoon of cornstarch (or flour) and whisk to dissolve -- then add a teaspoon of Soy Sauce and 2 tablespoons of Oyster Sauce. Mix well. Add this extra sauce to the Stir Fry Sauce. Follow the rest of the directions. Sauce will thicken as it heats through.

If you are not a fan of broccoli, chunky sliced carrots (double the steaming time,) or even cauliflower, are delicious substitutions. Almost any veggie you like will do as well (spinach, asparagus, bell pepper, etc.) - alone or combined.