Recipe Challenge: Fried Rice with Mushrooms

Mushrooms and I have a…well…rocky relationship. That’s to say I’ve spent the better part of my life avoiding them. For many years, they simply struck out in both the taste and texture departments. (Unless they were hidden so deeply in a dish as to be completely unrecognizable.) But some years ago I learned about the nutritional benefits of mushrooms, and since then have been trying to accept them into my life. I can now eat mushrooms on a pizza without wincing and can make a suitable mushroom gravy when needed. I’ve also been cooking with them more as I would any regular vegetable. The results have been…not the worst, but I still have a long way to go in become the world’s greatest mushroom chef.

Part of this re-examination of mushrooms has involved trying different varieties. For the most part, and thanks to their explosion of the 2000s, portabella mushrooms have been my go-to. But our local grocery store has upped its game in the produce section, and now all sorts of mushrooms are readily available. One of the newest things now for sale is this:

“Exotic blend?” Erm, well…okay. Save for the portabellas, I guess shitake and oyster mushrooms still count as exotic these days. I brought them home with no plan of what to do with them. Only then entered in a challenge put forth by 8bit’s ringleader Liores: create a recipe using three chosen ingredients — peppers (hot or bell), mushrooms, and eggs. Well now…suddenly my fancy, exotic mushrooms took on a whole new meaning.

In thinking of meals that might include mushrooms, peppers, and eggs, my thoughts naturally turned towards breakfast — omelets, scrambles, fritattas, and such seemed perfect for such ingredients. Well, that is if the thought of eating mushrooms for breakfast didn’t give me pause. I needed something where the mushrooms would be suitably cooked and “disappear” into the dish. With that in mind, one meal jumped out: fried rice! Oh yes, what better way to incorporate different vegetables into one dish with (usually) good results? Hence my newest creation: Fried Rice with Mushrooms!

Now, to say that I have a fried rice “recipe” would be a lie. Fact is, fried rice is one of those nice dishes where you can throw in a little of this and a lot of that and smidge of something else, and most of the time, things turn out okay. So instead of a traditional list of ingredients and instructions, I’m going the sorta kinda play-by-play route, which, you should know, is unheralded as I’m perfectly awful at taking pictures of my cooking while it is happening. Apologies here for any blurry images.

Fried Rice with Mushrooms

First up in prep, the veggies. Here we have (going counterclockwise from bottom left), the mushroom mix (portabella, shittake, oyster), a large serving of broccoli spears, half a white onion, a few baby carrots, one egg, one bunch of scallions, and a bell pepper. Taking half the mushroom mix (about 4 ounces), I chopped everything up into bite-sized pieces.

Next, we have the oil and spices. From left to right, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, canola oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

And finally, the cooked and slightly cooled rice. (In this case white jasmine, because it was all I had.)

Now onto the stove. First, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large pan or wok over medium high heat. Then add in onion, pepper, and carrot. (If you like, you can also add in some chopped garlic.) Sauté until the carrots have softened a bit — about 8 minutes.

Then throw in the broccoli and mushrooms. Keep on stirring and cooking until the mushrooms have browned – another 5-6 minutes.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg. In the wok, create a small well in the center of the pan by moving your veggies out and up the sides a bit. Drop the egg into the center of the pan. Let it cook from about 2 minutes before incorporating it into the mixture.

Once the egg has been stirred in, fold in approximately 1 1/2 cups of the cooked rice.

Season the mixture with 3-4 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, a couple good shakes of garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and let the rice and veggies cook over heat for 3-4 minutes more.

Sprinkle scallions over the rice and let them warm through.

Serve the fried rice warm on its own or with your favorite Asian-inspired meat dish and/or egg rolls and/or whatever else you like.

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As a postscript, I must say that this recipe considerably changed my opinion of mushrooms. They lent delightfully hearty and earthy flavors to the fried rice, which were quite appealing, and which made the meal all the more filling. Needles to say, this dish is going into regular rotation, mushrooms and all!

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While Cary’s happy to talk food here, she’s also pretty good at doling out words about video games at United We Game while simultaneously maintaining her own blog, Recollections of Play. You can also find an archive of fun, geeky articles from her and like-minded souls at Geek Force Network.