Straightforward Mexican Fried Rice Recipe

This Mexican tackle fried rice was impressed, surprisingly, by a dish at an Italian steakhouse. For my anniversary dinner at Be.Steak.A in Campbell, CA, I skimmed previous the pastas and bistecca to order what seemed like a rogue menu merchandise: fried rice tossed with fennel-spiked sausage, pickled Calabrian chiles, and Pecorino Romano. It arrived loaded with heat spice, tangy warmth, and simply sufficient cheese so as to add a barely funky taste and glue the grains collectively. I beloved it. Not simply the flavors, however the entire concept of taking an Asian stir-fry framework and rebuilding it with flavors that fall exterior the same old expectations. I additionally knew I could not afford to return each time I needed to eat it once more.

So I recreated the dish at residence, utilizing the Mexican-American flavors and substances I do know finest—those that dwell in my kitchen daily. I swapped the Italian sausage for chorizo, traded the Calabrian chiles for pickled jalapeños (plus a splash of their bracing pickling liquid), and showered every little thing with cotija as a substitute of Pecorino. The result’s one thing I now prepare dinner weekly, as a result of it depends on substances I virtually all the time have readily available and adapts to no matter produce odds and ends I’ve. It additionally hinges on a way I really like in Italian, Asian, and Mexican cooking: including substances in small batches to a ripping-hot pan in order that they char, caramelize, and construct layers of taste.

Begin with Char

If there is a Mexican analog to wok hei—breath of the wok—it is the burned, flame-kissed edges of carne asada and cebollitas grilled immediately over coals. Cebollitas—scallions with extra-plump bulbs—char fantastically, turning smoky, savory, and barely candy. For this recipe, I reduce the bulbs into petal-shaped items and sear them alongside cabbage; the cabbage softens and chars whereas the onions blacken on the edges, giving the fried rice a dose of fire-flavor proper up entrance. Cebollitas can be found at most Latin grocers, however if you cannot discover them, common scallions will work, although the bigger bulbs of cebollitas add extra diversified texture and chew.

Cooking the Chorizo

I really like utilizing Mexican chorizo on this fried rice as a result of it brings built-in seasoning and deep, meaty heft to the dish. Its heat spices and wealthy fats do the heavy lifting, so that you need not dig right into a pantry’s price of spices to construct taste. Be sure to’re utilizing recent Mexican chorizo—the unfastened, uncooked floor meat sort—not cured Spanish chorizo. The tube-style variations discovered in lots of supermarkets will work in a pinch, however they are usually watery and do not brown as simply. Each time attainable, purchase chorizo from the butcher counter at a Latin American grocery retailer—it crisps up higher and often tastes brighter and porkier. The rendered fats turns into the stir-fry medium, flavoring the rice with heat spices and meaty taste. Get the chorizo as crisp as attainable—it is the primary supply of crunch in an in any other case gentle, fluffy dish.

Including a Sizzling and Bitter Component

Pickled jalapeños are the spine of this fried rice. They steadiness the richness of the pork and cheese with vinegary brightness and a mild warmth that wakes the entire dish up. The actual secret weapon is the pickling liquid itself, infused with taste from the chiles and spices. A tablespoon is sufficient to sharpen the opposite flavors within the dish with out overpowering them. You probably have different pickled chiles readily available, be happy to experiment—simply regulate the amount when you’re utilizing one thing punchier, like habanero. A squeeze of lime on the finish additionally performs properly with the tangy, spicy profile.

This dish is just not solely scrumptious, nevertheless it comes collectively in lower than half-hour and is simple to customise with substances you could have readily available.