There was rice left over from cooking dinner last night and I'd been planning a kao pad gai - fried rice with chicken - for brunch this morning. I don't know why I'm saying it like this was an accident - I had deliberately made more rice last night than was needed just so that I could have kao pad today!
But I was also thinking about the ruam mit gratiem I'd made and thinking I'd like to make it again as I'm not that familiar with it yet and it was so easy and so good.
The conversation I had with myself went like this:
'Oh good! Favourite fried rice today!'
'But I kind of fancy making that stir fry again - I could try it with chicken this time.'
'If you make a stir fry though you're going to have to make more rice and there's already cold rice sitting there.'
'But I don't know which to choose - I want both!'
'Well then have both! Mix them together into one!'
So that's what I did. I love cooking just for myself - I can experiment away and also make things as spicy as I like. And that's generally pretty spicy.
Note that you do need cold cooked rice for this as freshly cooked hot rice is just too wet to stir fry.
Here's how to make my hybrid brunch dish.
Chop a piece of chicken breast into small pieces and also chop a nice big clove of garlic.
Get a pan hot, add some cooking oil and when hot tip in the chicken and garlic.
Cook over a medium heat - hot enough to seal the meat quickly but not so hot the garlic burns - for four or five minutes until the chicken is cooked.
Remove the chicken and garlic to a bowl, tip out any excess oil and return the pan to a medium low heat.
Quickly add:
2 x teaspoons oyster sauce
1 x teaspoon fish sauce
1 x teaspoon thin / light soy sauce
1 x teaspoon sugar
1 - 2 x teaspoons dried chilli flakes (I'd suggest just one - I put in two and it was a bit too much)
Stir for a few seconds until mixed and thick and bubbling.
Then return the chicken and garlic to the pan and mix with the sauce.
Add the cold leftover rice and cook for a few minutes on a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the rice is hot right through.
Push the mixture to one side, add a little oil into the space and when hot crack in an egg.
Leave to cook for around 15 seconds until scrambling and combining with the rice and chicken mixture.
Stir fry until everything is mixed and the egg cooked.
Remove from heat and prepare any garnishes you like - I'm using a shake of white pepper, some coriander leaves and a few slices of red chilli.
Turn out the rice and chicken mixture onto a plate, or pack into a plastic bowl first to make it look nice, and add a few slices of cucumber too if you have it.
A very good brunch and I'm glad I made it, but I do still prefer a 'proper' kao pad I think.
What do you think? Let me know if you try this - or any other variation of it.
And I'm off now to make more coffee :)
