When I cooked the chili beef a la Bicol Express last Saturday, I served it with a special onion and garlic fried rice.
What’s so special about the fried rice? Okay, when I simmered the beef that became the chili beef a la Bicol Express, I added a whole onion, a whole garlic and a tablespoonful of peppercorns. As the beef simmered away, the liquid was reduced to a mere one-fourth cup. Aside from the chopped garlic and onion, two tablespoonfuls of that ultra rich liquid — a beef concentrate, in effect — went into the fried rice. The concentrated flavor is just superb.
But didn’t the added liquid make the fried rice soggy? Not if you use leftover cold rice which had been cooked with the barest of liquid. For four cups of cold rice, the two tablespoonfuls of beef concentrate has the effect of merely softening the rice making it moist but not soggy. It makes the rice glisten too.
If you want to try making this garlic and onion fried rice with beef concentrate, try these proportions:
Ingredients
- 4 c. of cold cooked rice, stirred to separate the grains
2 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil
1 tbsp. of toasted garlic bits
2 tbsps. of crisp onion slices, chopped
1 tbsp. of finely chopped onion leaves
2 tbsps. of beef concentrate
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil to smoking point. Add the rice. Cook, stirring, until heated through. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir fry for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at once.
Cooking time (duration): 5 minutes
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: lunch
I used to do this often with left over adobo drippings left in the pot; yummy!
Oooh, I like that! With all the garlic bits!