"So good I Wish My Mouth Was Bigger" Dad's Special Fried Rice

Ahhhhh, everyone dies over my dad's special fried rice. Seriously, no one makes it like him. He's got some special leprechaun skill that makes everyone go a tad ridiculous over his fried rice. When I say tad ridiculous, I mean folks get very excited, gather in the kitchen and watch his every move - just waiting until he exclaims - let's eat! And we can't eat just one or two bowls...no, we got back for thirds and usually, the entire pot is gone. Case in point - Ross. Dad left him an entire pan for him to eat the next few days and a few weeks later, I found out that he actually ate the entire thing in one sitting.... I know its Ross but still, this stuff is like crack and is just that good. I can probably eat about three bowls of this stuff myself. So, what's so special about it?

He uses a special veggie - garlic onion/leek. These are not green scallions. I've only ever seen this in asian grocery stores and only in the winter time. Here's a picture of what these suckers look like. They are thicker than normal leeks and green scallions and the bulbs are much firmer with a slight purple hue through it. The stalk is thicker and more flavorful.

So this awesomeness is also by the process of how he cooks it. Beware, I've tried to emulate his process and really, can't get it the same as him. Like I said, he's got a secret leprechaun skill that no one else has. Here's my super cute dad cooking lunch for us!

Dad's Special Fried Rice

need: a small bowl for soy sauce, plate for eggs/sausage after initial cook, large pot/pan to cook the rice

4 cups of rice (better if it's a day old)

*Also, when I say 4 cups, it's the chinese cup that you use to measure your uncooked rice before you put in the rice cooker. I think this comes out to a lot more rice when cooked....

4 eggs beaten

2 or 3 links of chinese sausage (you can omit this if you don't want meat but this flavor adds quite a bit to the dish)

3 stalks of garlic onion/leek (cut the white section into diagonal slices roughly 1/8 inch thick and the green section into 1/2 inch length)

1/2 lb of shrimp cut into small pieces (so each shrimp, cut into three pieces)

S&P

Soy sauce (amount really depends on how salty you like. I prefer adding more soy sauce versus salt)

Canola/Veg oil (do not use olive oil)

1. Cook your rice if you don't have rice from yesterday. If from yesterday, warm in microwave for roughly 3 minutes. Using a spoon, mix up the rice so it's not in big chunks.

2. Heat up a large ot and add some oil. Beat your eggs and quickly scramble them in the pot. *If you have green scallions, you can add them here too if you'd like. Take out the egg and put on a plate for use later.

3. In the same pot, cook the chinese sausage until almost done. Again, take it out and put on the same plate as the eggs.

4. Cook the shrimp next until almost done. Take out and add to egg and sausage plate.

5. Add some more oil into the pot and add in the garlic onion/leeks and cook until very fragrant. Make sure to stir constantly. Add some salt to the leeks.

7. Add the warm rice to the leeks and mix to incorporate well.

8. Add in the eggs, sausage and shrimp. Mix well. (Note, you can always add other veggies or meat. Just do the same process of cooking each separately and then incorporating everything in the end)

9. Pour soy sauce into a bowl and then drizzle the soy sauce over the rice. This helps you control how much you put into the rice. Add some, taste and then add more if you liek. Also add in a dash of salt (if needed) and lots of pepper. Make sure to taste everytime you add more.

10. Let it cook for a little more. I like when the rice at the bottom of the pot gets a little crunchy :)

11. Done! Serve and make sure you have enough for seconds, thirds....