Did I Want Big Peppercorns in the Fried Rice?
In the last couple of months, I tried a recipe for fried rice that had Filipino flavors and whole fried eggs. Although I enjoyed the dish, I could not get used to having whole peppercorns in it.
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
As I was looking at the page that I had referenced when making a fried rice dish, I saw another one with adobo flavors. Since I like adobo meat dishes, I decided to give this rice plate a try.
Inspiring Recipe
The recipe that I found was Pork Adobo Fried Rice from Seonkyoung Longest’s website.
First Try
After reviewing the recipe, I already decided to make two substitutions and one omission.
The changes that I implemented were as follows:
- Ground beef instead of ground pork since it was cheaper
- Medium grain rice instead of jasmine rice because that’s what we normally purchase
As for the removal, I skipped the lime wedges since they were noted as optional on the website.
Ingredients to Use
Here are the ingredients that I planned for the recipe:
- 6 tablespoons + 1 1/3 teaspoons of soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon + 2/3 teaspoon of fish sauce
- 4 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of apple vinegar
- 2 tablespoons + 1/3 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of sugar
- 8 1/2 tablespoons + 1/3 teaspoon of cooking oil
- 5 eggs
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
- 9 cloves of garlic
- 12.87 ounces of ground beef
- 8 1/2 cups + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of cooked day-old cold rice*
*When I pre-measured the old rice, I realized that I didn’t have enough, so I had to cook some. Below is what I ended up using for the recipe:
- 6 1/2 cups of day-old rice
- 1/2 cup of 2-day-old rice
- 1 1/2 cups + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of rice that was brought to room temperature and quickly refrigerated
Steps to Prepare
Of the five steps in the instructions, I made a couple of tweaks as follows:
- Step 1 – Since I forgot to stir the sauce, I didn’t notice until later that some of the sugar was left in the bowl.
- Steps 2/4 – Because I didn’t have a wooden spoon, I used a metal wok spatula.
As for Step 3, I didn’t have to add extra oil since there was enough left in the wok after frying the eggs. However, I should’ve turned off the stove until I was ready to add the spices, so they wouldn’t smoke.
Time to Eat
This is the first time I had fried rice topped with fried eggs!
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣1️⃣ | 🤏🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
The rice had light adobo flavors, but my family and I would’ve preferred to eat the rice with ground peppercorns instead of whole ones. As for the fried eggs, which my husband wanted more of, they added a nice texture and golden fragrance to the dish.
Second Try
For the second round, not only did I want to improve the texture of the dish, I also wanted to refine the process of making it.
Ingredients to Use
As compared to the first try, I only made one replacement. Instead of whole peppercorns, I used ground ones.
Below are the ingredients that I planned for the recipe this time:
- 4 ounces + 1/3 teaspoon of soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 1/8 teaspoons of fish sauce
- 4 ounces + 1 tablespoon + 1 1/4 teaspoons of apple vinegar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of sugar
- 5 ounces + 1/2 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of cooking oil
- 6 eggs
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 1/3 teaspoons of black pepper
- 11 cloves of garlic
- 16 ounces of ground beef
- 10 2/3 cups of cooked day-old cold rice*
*To have enough of rice, I had to add 1 1/3 cups of same-day refrigerated rice.
Steps to Prepare
For the process during the second time, I only made modifications for the following steps:
- Step 1 – I stirred the sauce and ensured that all the sugar was poured into the wok.
- Step 3 – To prevent the ingredients from smoking this time, I turned off the stove after frying the eggs until I was ready to add the spices.
Time to Eat
Here’s the bowl of fried rice with at least one egg per person.
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣1️⃣ | 🤏🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
The fried rice had good flavor and was definitely easier to eat without whole peppercorns to pick out! However, my arms were tired from stirring the large batch of rice.
In addition, though my husband liked the dish, he wanted peppers for more flavor. Also, my younger son agreed, but more for the color.
To brighten the flavor of the fried rice in the future, I will try the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Experiment with lime wedges, as listed on the original recipe.
By adding fried eggs on top of the fried rice, I learned the following that I would like to share with my younger self:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Topping other dishes with fried eggs is an easy way to add more protein and flavor!
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try Pork Adobo Fried Rice from Seonkyoung Longest’s website?
- Share your favorite fried rice recipe?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)