Chorizo Fried Rice

One of my kids favorite things to eat is the fried rice at our local hibachi restaurant. For a kid that does not like many vegetables, and eggs to boot, he will sit there and watch the chef flip and crack the eggs, do the knife stunts as he slices and chops vegetables, only to be nicely plated on his plate. Those carrots I lay out during dinner, and those carrots he refuses to eat, well, he eats them in the fried rice. Same goes with eggs. He will not touch them if they are fried, scrambled, or hard boiled, but put it in fried rice, and he will have a second serving. As a parent, I latch onto that, and if my son loves it that much, well, you better believe that I am making him fried rice, with veggies, and egg, as often as I can.

So as I typically make a standard fried rice for the kids, I thought I would try sneaking in something new for the kids. I love making attempts at this. I know that if they love something, and if I can incorporate something new into the recipe, well, I make every effort to get them to try something new whether that is a vegetable or meat. In my case, I thought I would incorporate Mexican chorizo into the recipe, as after all I made this on Cinco de Mayo.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe], Serves 6

• 4 cups of day old cooked rice
• 1/2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup of Mexican Chorizo, squeezed out of casing
• 3 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 whole eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• Generous pinch of cracked black pepper
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter

Begin by heating a large, non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add the oil, and toss in the garlic, cooking and stirring until fragrant. Next, add in the celery and carrots. Give a good stir, and cook for a few minutes. You want them to soften slightly but want some of the crunch. Add in the uncooked chorizo, and begin breaking it up, cooking along the way. The chorizo will begin releasing its fat as it cooks, and this is perfect as we will use this to assist us in cooking and crisping up that rice. The chorizo should take about 5 minutes or so to cook. Continue breaking up any pieces of chorizo.

Add in the butter, and let that begin to melt. This will not only add great flavor to the rice, and I think is a secret weapon when it comes to making fried rice, but it also crisps up the rice. Add in the eggs, and let them cook, breaking it up as it cooks. As the butter melts and the egg cooks, add in the rice, breaking it up with your wooden spoon. Flip, toss, stir. Do you kitchen magic. Impress those around you with those flips of the wrists. Mix everything, that is your goal. As you incorporate all of the veggies, chorizo, and butter into the rice, it will begin to crisp up and make an amazing rice. You are ready to serve.

Feel free to plate in a large serving bowl for the table, or individual bowls. My son loved it, and loved it so much he requested another large bowl of it. Looks like we are winning after all, at least on sneaking in vegetables and eggs, and heck, a new meat he has never tried.

I can’t blame the kid for loving this fried rice. It’s got everything you would love with a fried rice, and replaces that soy sauce, the chili and paprika notes from the Mexican chorizo. If you are looking for something to use in your fried rice recipe, give this one a shot.