Okay, so it doesn’t *look* all that pretty, but it tastes great.

We go through a lot of rice at my house. I think my Irish-German-Syrian husband has a bit of Asian in him, because the man will not eat bread except at breakfast. There must always be rice, and plenty of it. Rice, however, can get old and stale….or just a bit boring if it’s plain boiled rice.

My mom and I have a “never throw out anything unless it’s gone bad” compulsion, so I have this really simple way of jazzing up a-few-days-old rice into fresh dinner. Using broth and soy sauce, I make a cross between risotto (because you can make it as creamy as you want) and fried rice (because I usually opt for Asian flavors). It’s also a great way to use up leftover anything, because already-cooked chicken, seafood, beef, vegetables can be added with some extra flavor to jazz up otherwise plain rice.

The last one I made was a Ginger Beef Rice, so that’s the recipe I’ll share. Measurements (and ingredients) are variable, because you can add more/less/none/something else to change up the flavors.

Recipe in here:

Ginger Beef Rice

3 cups leftover rice
1 1/2 cup cooked beef, cut into small pieces or shredded
2 cups chicken broth, hot
1 tbs. garlic-ginger puree
1/2 onion and 1 garlic clove, diced
Leftover cooked vegetables
Soy sauce, salt, pepper, and chili sauce to taste
(optional) 1 egg, beaten well and seasoned with salt, pepper, chili sauce, and soy sauce.

1. In a medium hot pan, sweat the onion and garlic together. When soft, add the meat and vegetables to reheat them. Add the ginger paste and stir well.
2. Turn the heat to high or medium high. Add the rice and stir well to incorporate all the ingredients.
3. Pour in hot chicken broth one cup at a time and stir until rice has absorbed it. (The more you add, the more risotto-like it will be).
4. Season rice with soy sauce and chili sauce (I like a lot of both of these), salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
5. If you want to have the traditional pieces of egg in the fried rice - push the rice to the side of the pan and add the egg in the middle. Let it cook for a few minutes, then stir well to break up the egg and evenly distribute the curds.

I’ve also made a risotto with leftover rice and broth from leftover Aromatic Ginger and Shrimp Soup

Other what-to-dos with leftover rice

Slashfood’s Rice pudding (another at Amateur Gourmet, whose job I covet)
Steamy Kitchen’s more-authentic-than-mine Vegetable Fried Rice

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