When I order Chinese takeout, all I ever really want is the fried rice. I usually order some cashew chicken or something because they won’t deliver for an order under 10 bucks, but it’s just a sideshow to the main event: that gorgeous, salty, flavor-filled fried rice.

Recently, though, I’ve decided that is a really foolish waste of my hard-earned buck, so I just make my own fried rice and skip the take out altogether. I didn’t want the cashew chicken anyway, and this way I don’t have to tip the driver. I usually whip up some egg drop soup alongside it and we feel like we have just been through the buffet, but without the msg. And the whole thing costs less than five or six bucks to make.

Fried rice is best made with leftover rice, but I rarely have that laying around when I’m in the mood for a quick fake-out take-out dinner, so I just make my rice and chill it while I prep everything else and only pull it out right before the frying begins. I said frying, not crying. I promise. I mean, I am really hormonal, and I do cry at the drop of the hat, but I do not cry over fried rice.

I love to make this because it’s sort of a refrigerator catch-all thing. Whatever veggies are laying around are usually a nice addition. Most recently I had a head of broccoli, an onion and a bag of carrots. Good enough for me. But I say there’s nothing wrong with throwing peas, edamame, squash, bell pepper or whatever else makes your toes curl in there. I’m no purist, you know. I am a practical cook who doesn’t like to throw food away, so feel free to add whatever is in your refrigerator that needs to be eaten before it meets an unattractive end.

Shrimp is my go-to protein for this (well, and bacon) because it’s fast to thaw and cook and, well, it’s delicious. But you could add pork or chicken or tofu or whatever. That is what is so fun about fried rice. Put what you like in there! The world is your rice bowl!

Sizzlin’ Shrimp Fried Rice
4 cups cold white rice (I like jasmine best for this, but whatever you have will do)
1 head of broccoli, cut into tiny florets
1/2 cup diced carrots
5 strips of bacon (and the grease from said bacon – reserved)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 C soy sauce
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 eggs
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 stalks green onion, white and light green parts only
salt and pepper

Start by cooking your rice. Pop it in the refrigerator while you proceed through the rest of the steps.

Mix up 1/4 cup of soy sauce and the cornstarch, and add the shrimp to the bowl. Set aside.

Next, cook the bacon. Reserve the grease – you’re going to need it. Set the bacon aside.

Put a tablespoon of bacon grease back into the skillet and cook the carrots until they are soft – almost done. Set them aside, and put the broccoli and chopped green onions in the skillet. Add more bacon grease if necessary. Push the veggies around to cook. I like to put the lid on and sort of steam it. Don’t overcook it. Set the broccoli and onion aside with the carrots.

In that same skillet, scramble the two eggs. Leave them just slightly underdone, and toss them into the bowl with the carrots, onions and broccoli.

Next, cook the shrimp. Toss the contents of the bowl into the hot skillet and cook the shrimp for just a couple of minutes, evenly on both sides. Put them in the bowl with all the other waiting ingredients.

Now, this is really important: turn up the heat on the skillet. Turn it up high. High heat is KEY to good fried rice. Add the sesame oil and a couple more teaspoons of bacon grease back to the pan and wait for it all to get extremely hot. Add the rice, shrimp, vegetables and crumbled bacon to the pan and let it sit there. Resist the urge to mess with it for at least a minute. Then flip everything. It should be sizzling hot. Drizzle the rest of the soy sauce around the edges, stir gently and eat!

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2012/aug/26/240105/

A bowl of this and some egg drop soup or an egg roll and seriously, people, I don’t think I can be happier with a meal.