Vegan Kampung Fried Red Rice

Kampung Fried Rice reminds me of stuffy Malay restaurants with questionable kitchen hygiene. But that had never stopped me from frequenting them to get a piping hot plate of nasi goreng, extra spicy with glistening cili padi cuts and sambal belacan on the side. In this recipe, I recreate the memory with a twist of red rice and a fully vegan version.

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

Fried rice

1/2 medium-sized onion

1 clove of garlic

2 bird's eye chili (more if preferred)
1/4 cup of dried mushrooms (hydrated with hot water)
1/2 cup of cooked and cold red rice*
Salt, to taste.

Side Vegetables

Chili flakes

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp of soy sauce

1/2 orange sweet potato, boiled and cubed with skin off

1 small bok choy, prepped.

5-6 snap peas, blanched (separate the peas and pods for presentation, it's up to you!)

1/4 cucumber, prepped.
Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Fried rice

1. Grind onion, garlic and bird's eye chili in a pestle and mortar.
2. Heat wok or pan over high for 30 seconds and pour cooking oil in.
3. Toss onion base in and stir for 1 minute. 
4. Toss dried mushrooms and a pinch of salt in and stir.
5. Toss rice in and stir well for 3 minutes.
6. Serve on a plate.

Side Vegetables

1. Heat wok or pan over high for 30 seconds and pour cooking oil in.
2. Toss 1 chopped garlic and cubed sweet potato in. Stir.
3. Toss chili flakes and salt to taste. Stir well and transfer to plate.
4. Toss 1 chopped garlic and prepped bok choy stems in. Stir.
5. Toss the leaves and soy sauce in. Stir well and transfer to plate.
6. Transfer prepped cucumber and snap peas to plate.
7. Enjoy!

NOTES

*I try to minimise eating refined carbs as much as I can; hence, red rice and brown rice are my go-to choices. But you can also use any type of medium or long grain white rice if preferred.

*Cold rice (or room temperature) is the best for cooking this fried rice, as the moisture is very minimum. Mushy fried rice is a no-no for Malay-style fried rice (as opposed to Japanese tomato fried rice).

*Always maintain wok at high heat. The process of cooking fried rice and vegetables stirfry should be fast.