There really isn’t anything Aloha about this recipe except that the star ingredients are similar to a Hawaiian pizza. What this recipe is, is a kiss and a nod to my friend Li Li who is an incredible cook. Seriously. We don’t get invited to dinner at other people’s houses very often, opting to go out with our friends if I don’t feel like cooking.
The first night we went to Li Li’s house for dinner, she made a traditional Chinese dinner. To say it was incredible is an understatement. One of her dishes was pineapple fried rice, where she hulled a pineapple, cut up the innards for the rice then filled the empty pineapple with the rice and baked it until it was time to serve. Holy Fried Rice it was delicious!
I know if I had asked, Li Li would have given me the recipe, but I’d been tossing around the idea for a while so I had a couple of plain old fried rice recipes in my arsenal that just needed a little tweaking to make them Li Li – style perfect.
I whipped this up last night and took it across the street to a crew of very hungry workers who were moving my good friend Sarah to her new house. In the midst of all of the sadness (she’s moving! boo!) and happiness (to her beautiful new home that she and her husband worked their butts off designing for the last year! yea!) I figured the best place for me to be was in the kitchen, where Sarah and I have had so many good times together.
The recipe fed (very comfortably) 6 hungry men and women as a main course.
Aloha Fried Rice
Delta Whiskey2 cups chopped cooked ham*
4 cups cooked, cold rice (yes, it needs to be cold)
1 softball sized onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, halved and diced (if thick, cut into quarters, then dice)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2″ fresh ginger, peeled, then diced
1/2 of a package of frozen peas
1 large can pineapple tidbits, drained (or fresh if you have it!)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
Vegetable OilHeat a couple tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil starts to ripple and is hot, add ham to the wok and toss (or stir with a wooden spoon). Cook ham until slightly browned and heated through, about 2 minutes. Add onions and carrots to the wok and cook and stir until tender, adding more oil in 1 tablespoon increments, if necessary; cook until onions are tender and carrots have slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant, then add peas and pineapple and stir until peas have warmed through. Remove vegetables to a large bowl.
Return wok to heat, adding a tablespoon of oil. Quickly add the eggs to the hot wok, stirring constantly until eggs are cooked, but still liquid-y. Season with salt and pepper. Remove eggs to the bowl of vegetables, returning wok to burner. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok, add the rice and stir until the rice becomes slightly crispy.
Break up any egg pieces in the bowl, add rice and stir. Taste. Season with salt and pepper (if necessary).
*I used ham that was leftover from Easter. The Husband bought me a Food Saver for Christmas this year and I’ve been working my way through that Easter ham for a months. If you don’t have any leftover ham, go talk to your local deli-dude. Ask for a piece of thick-sliced ham, about 1/2″ thick. That’s what I use in a pinch.
