(no subject)

( medical silliness )

Comfort food with fresh herbs

So in one of the most recent issues of Gourmet, there is a hysterically funny article about three Chinese chefs being taken on a culinary tour of America. A tour that included some of the best restaurants in the country, and a menu that had my mouth watering... and was met with a lot of "How am I supposed to eat this?" "This has a weird texture!" "If I eat any more raw food I'm going to turn into a barbarian!" and "I ate an hour ago and yet I'm already hungry!" by the chefs. Culinary culture shock is apparently a universal experience.

Anyhow, in the article I was reminded of egg fried rice, which is one of the great comfort foods of all the world. (Recipe: Beat a couple of eggs. Swirl a little oil in a very hot wok, swirl in the eggs, add a couple of cups of leftover rice and some chopped green onions, stir energetically until the egg is cooked and the rice is hot -- say, a minute, maybe two -- and maybe add a tiny bit of salt. If you have leftover rice on hand, you can make it in five minutes flat, and it is good.)

So I felt like making something fairly simple for dinner, but I was also feeling whimsical. Note: I'm not saying this is an improvement on egg fried rice. Egg fried rice is already perfect. However, it's awfully good.

First, prepare:

• 1 bell pepper, chopped (I used a pale purple one, but suit your own tastes)
  
• 2-6 serrano chiles (very finely cut)
  
• 1/4 cup fine chopped shallots (or a tablespoon or so chopped garlic if you don't have shallots)
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped basil and cilantro (I used 3 parts basil to 1 part cilantro, and I used "vietnamese cilantro" rather than the corriander plant, because I like it better, and it's a perrenial, and I have a ton in the garden. If you hate cilantro, don't use it) closer to 1 cup if coarsely chopped
  
• 2-4 green onions, chopped
  
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• 1/2 teaspood finely chopped fresh galangal
  
• 1/2-1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh lemongrass
  
• one lime, juiced
  
• one handful crushed cashews (optional)
  
• three cups cooked rice. (Ideally this should have been cooked well before.)
  

You really need to get this all done ahead of time, because the actual cooking goes fast.

For simplicity, beat the green onions and shallots into the eggs

Put the galangal, lemongrass and peppers in a hot wok with a little oil, stirring gently for a minute or two -- this isn't about cooking them, just distributing the flavors a little. Swirl in the egg and allium mixture. When it is at least two thirds of the way cooked (which should be about ten seconds if your wok is hot) add the rice and cashews, stirring energetically. Sprinkle with fish sauce. (Or soy sauce, or a little fermented bean paste thinned in water, or whatever. Heck, a little vegetable broth and salt wouldn't be bad, and wouldn't darken things the way soy sauce does.) Once the egg is cooked and the rice warm (again, about a minute if your wok is hot, but take as long as you need to) remove from heat, sprinkle with lime juice, add the basil and cilantro and stir a little more.

I bet adding a little finely chopped mint with the basil and cilantro wouldn't suck, either.

We had ours with peaches and cream (a variety) corn on the cob.