When hosting a guest, I knew I would have to sometimes cook – not my strong suit, but I also cannot fathom serving someone food from a box. While my cooking may be questionable at best, I still try. One night I made some masala chicken with rice and decided to make an overload of rice so that I could use the rice for something else another day. In this case, I used the leftover for fried rice. It always turns out a bit differently since it's not really a "recipe" (cooking rarely is, unlike baking). Back in April when a friend visited, I made fried rice with chicken and prawns. This time I had a bunch of beef strips to use… hence leftover rice forming the basis of beef fried rice.

Beef fried rice

Marinade and beef:
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Few teaspoons of pineapple juice if you wish
Pinch of white pepper
About half a pound of beef strips

Put marinade ingredients into a bowl with the beef, stir to combine and let stand for at least ten minutes while preparing the other ingredients. (You could also put ingredients in a plastic bag and let marinate overnight.)

When ready to make the fried rice:
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil for frying
2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
About 3 cups leftover rice
¼ cup fairly finely chopped carrot
Soy sauce, to taste
½ cup broccoli florets
2 green onions, finely chopped

Lightly beat the eggs with the salt. Cook the scrambled eggs and set aside in a bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a preheated wok or frying pan on high heat. When the oil is hot, add the minced garlic. Stir-fry for a few seconds until aromatic, then add the onion. Stir-fry for 1 – 2 minutes, until it starts to brown and soften. Add the beef and let brown briefly, then stir-fry until it changes color. When the meat is basically done, add the carrots so they have a chance to soften slightly.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in the wok. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the rice, stirring and turning it over with a spatula to heat through and break up any clumps. Add soy sauce to achieve your desired/preferred taste.

Add the broccoli, stirring to combine. Add the scrambled egg. Stir to combine everything. At the end, add the chopped green onion. Test for taste, season further as desired.