Tis the season to use up those leftovers. Lucky for me, I have this space as a personal, online recipe book.
Our Fall Feast was a bit toned down this year, what with fixing up a 90 year old house and planning how to plant two rolling, hilly acres (plus gully) – chickens and sweatpants, here I come! We cooked up a meager spread: roast local duck, green bean casserole, mashed taters, stuffing, and homemade local pumpkin pie. As usual, a 4 pound duck turned into many, many meals. I got the chance to look back to a few winters ago, and adapted my leftover goose pot pie recipe to this duck and what we had in the fridge. I’ve been working on my pie crimp game, can you tell?
Also, for the first time in 5 years, I didn’t overcook the duck! Thanks, in part, to a new recipe site I discovered, which also served as the catalyst for throwing together what was, for sure, the best fried rice I have ever made at home. The trick, it turns out, is to not skimp on the oil. Surprise, surprise – look at that oil shimmer!
Quick and simple to throw together – the hardest part is needing cold (preferably at least day old) rice. Based off the recipe from Hank Shaw.
Ingredients – added in the order listed
- 1 large carrot, peeled, small dice
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 large onion (I used yellow, any type will do)
- 1 tbsp duck fat (substitute high smoke point oil of your choice)
- 2/3 cup frozen peas (thawed)
- 2/3 cup leftover duck, shredded/chopped
- 1 inch ginger chunk, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 cups day old rice (I used Nashiki sushi rice)
- 2 tbsp canola oil (divided)
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (divided) – check label for “wheat” if you are gluten intolerant
To a large fry pan or wok, add carrot and olive oil over medium heat. Stir and cook while you dice up the onion. After a minute or two, with the carrots fragrant, add the diced onion and duck fat. Cook 5-10 minutes until carrots are fork tender and onions are lightly browned. Add thawed (or fresh!) peas, cooking two minutes more. Add duck, but do not stir. Add ginger, garlic powder, and one tbsp of canola oil, then rice, stirring well to coat the rice in oil. You may need to decrease the heat at this point.
Crack two eggs into a bowl and (fork) whisk vigorously until creamy yellow. Move rice mixture to one side of the pan (if your stove is not level like mine, move to the higher side of the pan). Add the remaining 1 tbsp canola oil to the naked side of the pan. Once lightly shimmering, add whisked eggs to the oil. As the eggs start to firm and cook, gently fold them from the sides, creating fluffy sheets of scrambled eggs. Once they are done to your liking, stir all together with the rice mixture. Turn the heat back up to medium, leveling the fried rice in the pan and let cook, undisturbed for 1-2 minutes. Pour 1 tbsp of soy sauce around the edges of the pan and quickly stir to combine. Allow the mixture to sit for one minute and repeat with the remaining soy sauce.
Serve warm as is, or add your favorite additional toppings such as sesame seeds, chili garlic paste, and/or scallions. I bet this would also be great with a side of kimchi.
My personal complaint about restaurant fried rice is always the rice:everything else ratio, but following this ricepe (see what I did there?) flips the ratio and then some. Rejoice, for the egregious amount of oil(s), fiber form the vegetables, and protein in the duck make your body absorb the carbohydrates (glucose) from the rice much more gradually, keeping your energy level and your belly full.
Eat - Drink - Both 