• 4 large eggs, beaten
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
  • 1 entire head of garlic
  • 4 cups cold cooked white rice (I used basmati)
  • 3 tablespoons salted butter
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds, optional
  • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt to or to taste
  • For Garnish: 3 scallions, chopped on a sharp angle

Over the years our family has made fried rice many times. One of our favorite recipes is our chicken fried rice.

It’s easy, flavorful and economical to boot — we simply love it.  One key to making any really good fried rice is to make sure you use leftover or cold rice. If I do not have leftover rice, I steam my rice earlier in the day, turn off the heat and just let it sit in my rice cooker until I am ready to fry it up.

I decided to try my hand at a different type of fried rice – one that would go well with lumpia, a Filipino egg roll my husband and I grew up enjoying at our friend Rex’s house. We were also making Filipino barbecue. Rex’s mom, Gloria, (we still call her Mrs. Gallamoza) is a delightful woman. Her egg rolls were the best in the city. I remember watching her make them once. they were so good, people started asking for them. Mrs. Gallamoza’s egg rolls were begin sold at the nearest Asian market. They were that good! You can learn how to make them here.

 

Here’s how I made this Filipino version of fried rice:

 

In a heated wok add 1 tablespoon of dark sesame oil. Add garlic. Stir constantly until garlic is nicely browned — not burnt. Remove garlic into a bowl.

Add other tablespoon of sesame oil and your beaten eggs. Like an omelet, move eggs around in the beginning and then stop stirring. With a spatula, lift sides of omelet to let your eggs run underneath. do this until all egg is cooked and  you no longer have any raw egg — yolks or whites.

Remove omelet onto a plate and set aside.

Add butter, rice, sesame seeds, soy sauce and a little salt. Stir fry over a high heat for just about five minutes.

Place rice in a serving dish. Cut the omelet into strips and place on top. Garnish with garlic and scallions. You can even set aside some of the egg, garlic and scallions so people can add as much as they would like. Enjoy!