Poor Man's Fried Rice

Hopping on the food train again, whilst I promised some other saving ideas. Frankly, if you did it properly, you've already stuffed yourself with a couple of days worth of risotto goodness, and are craving something else. if not, you have a stomach with a much larger attention span than mine tends to have.

The recipe below yields a reasonable amount of really, really cheap fried rice. about 4 "dinner" serves or about 6ish "I'll have this with something else" side sized portions.

Recipe – Poor Man’s Fried Rice

½ Cup Frozen Peas $ 2.24 / 500gm
2 Carrots $ 0.65
Corn (frozen or fresh) $ Depending – frozen about 2.70
2 Rashers of Bacon $2.80 / 250 gm
1 Tsp Ginger $24.95/kg (10 gm is adequate)
Small amount of Oyster Sauce $3.91
3 Shallots / 1 small onion $0.25
3 Cups Rice (Dried, see note below.) $1.79/kg
1 Egg $3.91 / dozen
5 Tbsp Soy Sauce $ see post (Getting Started)
Splash of Canola Oil
1 Clove Garlic


Note – YOUR RICE MUST BE DRY!!!

Now, there’s a couple of options for the rice here. If you use fresh, moist cooked rice, you will have really soggy, gross fried rice. If you are fortunate enough to have a rice cooker, this is pretty easy. Simply cook your 2 cups of rice, and leave it on the keep warm setting for about half an hour. This will dry it out almost enough for it not to be gluggy.

The other option is to use leftover rice from the night before that has been in the fridge, or rice you’ve prepared about 2 hours before, pressed into reasonably flat trays and left uncovered in the fridge. In terms of effort, I’m a BIG fan of option 1.

Instructions

1. Prepare your egg – I like lightly beat the raw egg with a fork, and make sort of a pancake by putting it in a lightly oiled frying pan, and flipping over as it appears to ‘dry’. Wait to cool slightly, perhaps during step 2.

2. You’ll need a moderately sized Frying pan for this one. Add a splash of Canola oil and heat. Add crushed Garlic, grated Ginger and finely chopped Onion or Shallots and cook on a low temperature until fragrant.

3. Move those aromatics to the side of pan, slice bacon into small pieces. Place in fry pan and cook until slightly crispy (or however you like the bacon in your fried rice. If you want saggy bacon, that’s up to you). Slice egg into bite-size pieces, add to the mess in the pan.

4. Slice carrots into small circles, add with corn and peas to pan. Fry until almost cooked. (If your peas and corn are frozen, or you have frozen vege mix, about 3 mins in the microwave covered with water will soften them significantly, or about 8 minutes being cooked)

5. Add Soy Sauce, a SMALL (about a capful) amount of oyster sauce, and your rice. Stir like crazy, so that sauce has spread equally over everything. If your kitchen does not smell like awesome, you have done something incredibly wrong.

6. Serve! Fried rice el poor man is ready. This makes about 3 “Main” sized serves, or about 6 entrée sized serves.

NOTE: If you’re feeling a bit more gourmet about things, there’s always room for experimentation. I’m trying to provide the best possible price food which will still make you feel like you’ve eaten a meal rather than a bowl of noodles or a cheeseburger. We find Broccoli makes an awesome addition for bulking it out.

Risotto! Tomato and Tuna!

This is incredibly hearty and filling stuff, and should make around 6 large serves. Honestly, a small bowl is usually enough, and lasts us about 3 days in a household of big eaters. The boys in our house aren't big vege eaters, but apparently this disguises the taste pretty well, and i'm quite keen on it for the filling / good taste value.

I will include costs for ingredients where I am fairly certain of costs, but not so much for quantities of things I'd assume you would have in the cupboard or fridge. (See post Starting your Poor Man's Kitchen).

Ingredients

800 gm Whole Peeled Tomatoes $2.80
2 Cups Arborio Rice $3.99
400gm Tuna in Brine (Coles Smartbuy) $2.03
1 Small Onion $0.25
1 Red Capsicum $3.98/kg
1 Zuchinni $2.48/kg
A couple of Small mushrooms (If you have them growing and they aren't the type that kill you. We regularly add the garden's liberal supply, and none of us have died or ended up attempting to climb through keyholes)
Chicken Stock - Will end up being about 8 Cups
Liberal Splash of Olive Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic or equivalent
Cheese. Parmesan best but whatever you have
Tobasco Sauce for a bit of Flavouring

TOTAL
$9.07

1. Chop your veges, if you do this now, it's way easier later. Open your cans of Tomato and Tuna, Be ready, cause this needs to be stirred CONSTANTLY if you don't want to be spending the next week attempting to scrape the world's thickest goo out of the bottom of your large saucepan / pot.

2. Heat olive oil in LARGE pot. I say large because it will expand in a big, chunky way. Add onions and garlic, cook until onions start to go clear.

3. Add rice, stir until coated lightly with the olive oil. This has a fancy name I forget, but as a guide I usually wait until the rice looks nice and greasy. Cook on Low/ Medium

4. One cup at a time, begin adding stock. The guide for when to add the next is when the cup you have added seems to have been absorbed by the greedy arborio. 8 cups is a guide, if it needs more, the rice will still be kind of hard. Don't Panic though, we're not quite done. Stir whilst this is happening.

5. Add your can of tomatoes. Use a spoon or knife to cut them into more manageable segments. Add the entire can, juice and all, this all adds to the flavour. This will help to add moisture to the rice too, and should be absorbed in the same fashion the stock was. CONTINUE STIRRING

6. Add your veges. Capsicum, Zuchinni, Mushrooms if you have them, and Tuna. Continue Stirring.

7. Test your goo. If the rice is reasonably tender, as are your veges, you're almost there. If not, persist, add a small amount more stock and keep stirring. If everything is nice and tender, add your cheese and stir quickly.

8. To serve, spoon your goop into a bowl, top with some tobasco for a bit of extra flavour, and more parmesan (the fresh stuff, i haven't tried the powdery dandruff stuff on it, but I can't imagine it tasting good) Put the rest into a refrigerator safe container whilst it's still reasonably able to be scraped out. I would advice you chuck your saucepan straight in the sink to soak, don't let it dry or you'll have a heck of a time getting it back out. Keeps for about 4 days I would imagine.

Warning for Students: Rice is one of those things it is quite easy to give yourself food poisoning with. From what I've learnt in uni (Yes! a reputable place for learning) it's almost easier than chicken. Make sure your rice is soft, and make sure you're reheating things properly, give it a stir and chuck it back in your heating source for another few seconds. Make it hot enough to scald off your taste buds, I would rather not encourage anyone to get anything nasty.

Getting Started with your poor man kitchen!

There are a few things ingredient-wise that every kitchen needs, or at least requires in order to be able to make some decent food. These include:

Olive Oil- Good for you, as well as very effective and full of flavour for low temperature cooking. We grab the "You'll Love Coles" or "Black and Gold" varieties, unless someone else is donating some bits and pieces.

Canola Oil - For high temperature cooking. If you are making stir-fry, this is for you.

Garlic (Fresh or Jar) - if nothing else , it is the poor man's flavouring

Flour- For baking stuff. If nothing else, you can make cakes, biscuits and other things to fill your gut between meals

Corn Flour - See Above

Self Raising Flour - Again, see above

Sugar - Sweetening stuff. Own preference

Honey - And again. This one can be used as a base or something to add flavour to a whole heap of recipes.

Dry Pasta - Staple gut filler. Carbs make you feel full. If you are concerned about health or weight, normal pasta can be replaced with wholemeal, though it is more expensive than the good old Coles regular.

Rice - I can't express enough how much RICE is a good thing. Again, if you are watching your weight and fibre intake, white rice can be substituted for brown, but not without increasing hte price. For example, at cheapest, 1kg of rice from the local Coles or Foodland is about $1.79. Brown rice, you're looking at about $2.49 from my last purchase. Arborio is another thing you might want in your cupboard. Its about $4 for 500 gm, but one cup usually ends up about 4 of them once cooked, and it's probably the best thing to use for a nice, filling risotto.

Stock (Chicken / Beef ) - If you are making soups, thinning / adding water is pointless if you want to retain taste. Do yourself a favour and grab some stock. The premix liquid is very expensive, whereas the good old stock cubes can cost you about $3.46 for a litre($2.88 for home brand) , whilst if you're keen on saving, its about $2.70 for one of the Continental brand tubs of dry stock. You mix a teaspoon with a cup of water, and voila, one cup of stock. Massel are also good, with about 170 gm for $2.76. (I like this option, it keeps longer and saves me fridge space)

Sauces (Soy and Chilli if you can)- These whilst adding flavour to whatever $2 bargain you can pick up at the shop in the frozen section, make an awesome base for a stir fry, of course with a few other ingredients.

We tend toward doling out for the soy sauce. You can get 500ml of Coles Smartbuy Soy Sauce for about $1.28, but to be honest I would never, ever buy it again. I'm not a fussy eater, and neither are my housemates, but this actually ended up becoming part of the grey water, and the bottle in the recycling. We usually spend the 8 or so dollars on a litre of Kikkoman, which tends to last forever due to tasting incredibly strong.


Butter or Margarine- We are butter people, but butter is a versatile grease, filler and ingredient. Don't look too far past it. Coles tends to have cheaper cooking butter than woolworths, in terms of taste, the home brand didn't seem to make too much difference.

Herbs and Spices- Buy these as you need them. It takes ages to build up a decent inventory, but things like Cumin, Dried Chilli Flakes, Oregano, Bay Leaves etc can make an awesome addition to your cupboard. If youre having a rich week, some of those "Gourmet Garden" things can be really, really helpful. Basil specifically. If you can make sure they're dried and whole, crushing them will provide a whole lot more flavour than dried herbs.

EDIT: I'VE COME ACROSS NEW STAPLES, PREPARE FOR MORE BASICS FOR YOUR CUPBOARD!

Curry paste: Vindaloo or Rogan Josh: This is expensive, but can cover up a load of flavour related sins. It's around $4.45 a jar, but you only need a quarter of it to make a quick and bogan curry as per its instructions.


Whilst this may seem obvious, when you’ve just moved house or into dorms, this is the kind of stuff you don’t necessarily think of right away, and it generally does take a while to stockpile. Especially with herbs and spices. If you can get them fresh it is always better, but if you’re busy, which you probably are, sometimes it’s simply easier to get the same thing in a jar.

Next up, some basic recipes to fill your face.

Introducing Foodsavers! Adelaide

Hi there,

My name is Alice, and as a student in my 20s initially coming from a single parent upbringing, I understand the limitations of living on a budget. If this is the case, how with no parental assistance do I have no student debt at 23? Well, aside from the limitation of frivolous spending, and the usual rules regarding share-housing and turning off things when you aren't using them, learning to prepare cheap meals which taste good, and can feed you (and housemates?) for at least a few days can be a huge saver.

I'm a fulltime student at Flinders University, and have a number of volunteer commitments, so keeping it cheap, easy and relatively quick is fairly essential, unless the fates happen to have deposited a large amount of time in my basket (not likely!)

Via this blog, I hope to share some of my cheap and NOT crap food solutions with you, as well as to hopefully save you some money as well. There's something to be said for being in a position to leave your degree with little to no student debt, and not dressing in hessian sacks whilst being malnourished. If this sounds like it might help, please! read on!

Happy Cooking

Alice