Terra Vegana: Do you throw rice in the trash?

One of the first culinary memories I have is of my father preparing the “mexidinho”. From the refrigerator to the frying pan, pots of rice, beans, sautéed vegetables and leftover meat were poured and graced with cassava flour and a generous trickle of oil.

On Sundays, when he asked me what I wanted to eat, the answer was always the same. Scrambled. I remember my father explaining, not without first laughing, that it was impossible to prepare a mexidinho from scratch. Without old food, you can’t make this dish, which is the predecessor of reused recipes.

Years later, a couple of friends had me over for dinner with a Chinese-inspired delicacy. Rice, a variety of vegetables and tofu. The “fried rice”, or sautéed rice, brought the same comfort as the mexidinho, but now in a version without anything of animal origin.

Since then, I’ve been making stir-fried rice with any and all non-death scraps from my fridge. The trick is to use very cold rice, so the grains don’t stick to each other when sautéing. The frying pan —preferably a wok— must be very hot and properly covered with oil or olive oil.

The toasted sesame oil invokes Asian flavors and blends well with the ginger, which can be grated and added early in the preparation to bring a touch of freshness to old clothes. To finish off the oriental rice, nothing more harmonic than finely chopped chives or nirá and a little Sriracha pepper. My father’s mexidinho got a version 2.0, right?

Preparing sautéed rice is as simple as sautéing garlic and/or onion (I reiterate that ginger is a worthwhile plus) and adding the already cooked ingredients. If you want to add any raw vegetables, sauté them before adding the rice and other cooked vegetables.

The rice can even be frozen (look at that good tip to never throw rice away again) as long as it is thawed beforehand, either in the fridge, the day before, or in the microwave, just in case — in this case, be careful not to heat the rice!

The other day, I opened the fridge and found broccoli wanting to turn yellow. I didn’t even think twice, and I prepared a stir-fried rice with my own Chinese 5-spice seasoning. The result was so surprising that I couldn’t help but share it with you, reader.

Stir-fried Broccoli and Five Spice Rice

INGREDIENTS

3 cups of rice (cooked)
2 cups cooked and drained beans
1 small broccoli
3 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
¼ cup of soy sauce (tea)
1 tablespoon molasses
½ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice seasoning (recipe below)
Chives, Sriracha pepper and lemon to finish

PREPARATION

1. Loosen the rice with your hands and set aside.

2. Cut the broccoli and garlic into very small pieces. Don’t forget to enjoy the stem and leaves!

3. Heat a frying pan with toasted sesame oil. Stir in the rice, soy sauce, molasses and Chinese 5-spice seasoning. Stir for five minutes, for the rice to be golden!

4. Add the crushed broccoli and garlic and stir for another five minutes.

5. Add the cooked and drained beans, and mix, just long enough to heat the beans.

6. Cut the chives finely. Serve the rice in bowls and finish with the Sriracha pepper, chives and lemon drops. eat immediately

chinese five spice seasoning

INGREDIENTS

1 cinnamon stick
1 ½ tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon cloves
8 star anise
1 teaspoon(s) chili pepper

PREPARATION

1. Take the spices to toast in a frying pan for two minutes

2. Break up the larger spices (cinnamon and anise) and transfer to a coffee or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder

3. Store in an airtight container