Disclosure: This post is sponsored by RiceSelect. All opinions and recipe are 100% my own. 

Soy Chorizo Fried Rice: An incredible meatless weekday meal.

I live in Los Angeles, one of the largest food meccas in the world.  LA is a melting pot of flavors and is known for an endless combination of fusions. I love that I can hop in my car and reach any type of cuisine within a few minutes. These experiences have carved out a little niche in my culinary heart and help inspire my own home-cooked fusion cuisine.  My most treasured Asian-Latin fusion dishes I make is Soy Chorizo Fried Rice.

It seems to me that I crave fried rice once every two weeks, and have to run out to my various Chinese spots that I frequent to get it, and every time I’m there placing my order, making sure to repeat “extra egg on the rice please” to ensure they make it exactly the way I want it, I think to myself “Why don’t I have a rice cooker so I could make my own fried rice?” I know you’re probably thinking “Why the rice cooker for fried rice?” Here’s the answer…. The best fried rice is made with day old rice that is sticky and made in a rice cooker. Plain and simple. And why has it taken me so long to own one? Oh I know, because I have a clutter of junk in my kitchen cabinets that I need to get rid of, in order to make room for new stuff…. that’s why. Oh the vicious cycle of making time to get my life in order! Let’s spring forward.

Last week I just about had it, I reached into one of my cabinets and some old plastic cups came tumbling out, my kitchen was seriously long overdue for a spring cleaning. I grabbed a step ladder and climbed up into my chaotic cabinets and started to get rid of what was no longer needed. I began by taking everything out of the cabinets so I could scrub them down. Then before putting all the wanted items back in, I thought it would be nice to line the bottoms with con-tact paper. I threw on a poncho and off to Walmart I went to get my con-tact paper.

My Walmart is set up where you go through the market area first in order to get to the rest of the store. As I strolled in I couldn’t help but eye the produce as I passed it. There was a big display of asparagus, and it just looked so green and fresh. I started to think “I need asparagus for dinner tonight. Awwww, asparagus would be divine in a fried rice with ham.” My mind continued to wander “I have ham in the fridge leftover from Easter, I could buy that asparagus and make fried rice. No, you can’t, you don’t have a rice cooker.”

Before my mind had made the conscious decision to do anything, my body was already in motion. The asparagus was in the cart, I was headed to the appliance aisle because I knew with my new spacious cabinets in order I would have plenty of room for a rice cooker. The dreaded spring cleaning that I had procrastinated on for so long ended up being a godsent.

Ingredients for asparagus ham fried rice:

• 2 – tablespoons vegetable oil    
• 1 1/2  – cups ham (cubed small)
• 1 – cup onion (sliced)
• 2 – cups asparagus (cut into pieces)
• 4 – cups steamed rice (I used Nishiki)
• 1 – tablespoon butter
• 3 – eggs (whisked in a bowl)
• 4 –  green onion (sliced & chopped)
• 1/2 – tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 – tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 – teaspoon nanami togarashi (optional)

Directions:

1. Make a pot of rice in rice cooker according to directions in the manual. Make a total of 4 cups. Place rice in the fridge over night or until ready to use. 1 day old rice works best for this recipe.
2. In a large frying pan over a medium high flame add 2 tablespoon vegetable oil and allow to get hot.
3. Add ham to pan. Fry until ham is crisp, about 4 minutes.
4. Add in onion and asparagus mix well.  Continue to fry for 3 minutes or until asparagus turns a bright green color. 
5. Add in the rice, with a spatula break up the rice, and mix into the onion asparagus mixture.
6. Once the rice is combined lower the flame to a simmer. 
7. In a separate small pan over a medium flame add butter and allow to melt.
8. Add eggs to melted butter and fry up the eggs. Scrambled egg is the end results.
9. Add the cooked egg to the rice. 
10. Sprinkle the rice with green onion, and soy sauce. Mix well to combine.
11. Lastly sprinkle with sesame seeds and if some spice is desired nanami togarashi.
12. Enjoy!

My mouth waters at the anticipation of this dish.  I remember the first time I watched my friend Ji-Young make it, I was shocked that she was using day old steamed rice out of the fridge and SPAM.  Call me sheltered if you’d like but I don’t think I had ever tasted SPAM at that point in my life and didn’t quite know what to expect.  Actually I had never experienced kimchi in a fried rice either, so the results were going to enlighten my palate.  As she prepared the rice she told me, “Whenever you add kimchi to a fried rice you must fry the rice in butter.  If we were just adding meat and veggies we would fry in oil.”  I shoved that tip in my pocket, took it home and deposited it in my memory bank.  Finally the rice was done…… I dug my chopsticks in and never looked back.  In my opinion this rice is one of the BEST side dishes you can place on the table.  Thank you Miss Moon for introducing me to this delectable treat.  I hope my version represents your special dish well.

Ingredients for Korean Fried Rice:

3 – tablespoons butter

1 – heaping cup spam (cubed small)

1 – cup onion (sliced)

2 – cups kimchi (chopped small)

4 – cups steamed rice (a day old)

3 – eggs

4 – sprigs green onion (sliced & chopped)

1/2 – tablespoon soy sauce

1 – tablespoon sesame seeds

In a large frying pan over a medium high flame add 1 tablespoon butter and allow to melt then add cubed spam.  Fry until spam is slightly crisp, about 5 minutes.  Then add in onion and mix well.  Continue to fry for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Next add in 2 tablespoons of butter and allow to melt into spam and onions, then add in chopped kimchi.  Fry in pan for about 4 to 5 minutes.

Once the kimchi and onions are nice and soft add the day old rice.  It will take a second to break it up into the kimchi mixture.  Mix well.

Once the rice is combined lower the flame to a simmer.  In a separate pan make some scrambled eggs then add to the rice, then top with green onion and soy sauce.  Mix well.

Lastly sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve HOT!!!!!  Eat with a piece of meat or by it’s lonesome…. D-LISH!

All photos taken by: Mando Lopez