We all eat, and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly. Anna Thomas
My days at boarding school in Singapore entail my fondest food memories, particularly on days when you refuse to touch the canteen food and you make your way to the nearby HDBs. The HDBs are basically housing areas, with all kinds of conveniences within, which makes life as a boarded easy. The hawker stall-like food is made usually by a husband+wife duo, and is more of a delight for the non-vegetarians (fish, shrimp, squid, chicken, duck…). Fried rice, veggies, and all kinds of spicy sauces are laid out and if your mouth isn’t watering already, wait till you try the egg fried rice, with perfectly soft scrambled eggs and an amazing sambal that I have yet to eat again. On an afterthought, I think it’s this sambal that got me addicted to the place! There wasn’t anything remotely healthy about it, save the eggs, but back then healthy food meant salad, fruit and multi-vitamins – all of which I detested.
Now I copycat it at home with brown rice, which is a complex carbohydrate and recommended by the horrid dietician, and sometimes add veggies, although this time I refused – the brown rice is healthy enough, thank you very much! This recipe is incredibly easy, fast and you will want to eat it straight from the pan. It’s a great way to use up leftover rice. I fry a good amount of garlic until fragrant, stir in the rice and spring onions, and a mix of my favourite sauces in the world: Sriracha, chilli garlic and soya. And then you scramble the eggs into the same pan (great for less washing up!) and the hawker centre has come home!
I make this as a one-person meal for myself when eating alone, and sometimes I add in spinach and sliced onions if I feel I need some greens, but really, you could add just about anything (baby corn, bok choy, zucchini, carrots, peas…).
If you do have sambal lying at home (lucky you!) please add a few spoons of that too.
The Recipe
Serves Serves: 1 | Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice, cooked
- 3 tsp garlic, minced
- ½ cup spring onions, chopped
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp chilli-garlic sauce
- 2 tsp Sriracha sauce
- 3 tsp soya sauce
- ½ tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat the oil on low heat in a medium pan and add the garlic.
- Allow the garlic to gently fry.
- Once they turn brown, stir in the rice and spring onions and all the sauces.
- Push the rice toward the sides of the pan, creating a well in the centre.
- Pour the whisked egg in the centre, and gently scramble with a wooden spoon.
- Then combine the rice with the egg and add the salt.
- Serve hot.
