Quinoa “Fried Rice”
I call this quinoa “fried rice” the complex carb, superfood fried rice. It has the usual fried rice ingredients like spam, char siu, assorted vegetables and egg. Other than the fact that quinoa is used in place of the usual rice grains, the cooking method and ingredients are the same as that for making Chinese fried rice.
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I wasn’t at all surprised that a Chinese fried rice recipe can be easily adapted just by switching the rice for quinoa. I have been treating quinoa like rice: I cooked quinoa in a rice cooker (which works really well, by the way) and I ate it as a carb in place of rice for my salad/grain bowls.
This is my cooked quinoa before it’s turned into “fried rice”. I cooked the quinoa in the rice cooker.
Used in this recipe: Alter Eco Rainbow Heirloom Quinoa
There are three main types of quinoa: pearl (white), red, and black. For this recipe, I’m using tri-colour (mixture of all three, pictured above) from Alter Eco. The cooking method of the different type of quinoa is the same (ratio of 1 part raw quinoa to 2 parts water). In Singapore, you can find raw quinoa easily from the health food sections of local supermarkets, particularly those focused on western food imports such as NTUC Finest, Cold Storage and Jasons.
Some of the main ingredients in the fried rice: egg, luncheon meat (spam) & char siu (Chinese BBQ pork).
Quinoa reheats incredibly well in the microwave without a change in texture. So I usually cook a big batch (either just plain quinoa or this one-dish fried rice) and kept it chilled in the fridge. This way I can reheat it either for my weekday lunch box or weekday dinner. It is a huge time saver, especially when I have limited time to cook.
Quinoa "Fried Rice" Recipe
You can cook the quinoa beforehand (step 1), covered and chilled in the fridge, where it keeps for up to a week. Cooked quinoa reheats well in the microwave (1-2 minutes). Use 300 grams of cooked quinoa if you already have it on hand.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (120 grams) raw quiona pearl, red, dark or tri-coloured
- 1 1/2 cup water (to cook quoina)
- 1/2 tsp + 1 tbsp cooking oil divided
- 1 egg well beaten with 1/4 tsp light soy sauce
- 100g spam (luncheon meat) diced
- 100g char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) diced (substitute with another 100g spam if do not have this)
- 5 shallots thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 100g frozen tri-vegetables (carrot, pea, corn) thawed
- chopped spring onions for garnish
(A) Seasonings
- 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce to taste
- black or white pepper powder
Directions:
- Cook the quinoa. Wash the quinoa in 1-2 changes of water until water runs clear. Drain on mesh strainer. Add drained quinoa to a rice cooker or soup pot, add 1 1/2 cup water and cook until all the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy. Check out this tutorial for more detailed instructions. Set aside.
- Make the egg. Heat and grease wok with 1/2 tsp of oil. Cook egg, swirl to cover entire wok. Cook egg on both sides. When the egg is cooled, roll it up like a cigar and sliced to thin strips. Set aside.
- Stir-fry the aromatics. Heat remaining oil in a large wok or pan. Add shallots and garlic and cook until shallots are translucent and soft. Then add diced spam and char siu. Stir-fry until the spam is fragrant.
- Cook the “fried rice”. Add cooked quinoa, thawed tri-vegetables, egg and seasonings (A). Stir fry until everything is well combined and the quinoa is of an even colour. Season with pepper, and add more garlic salt only if needed. Garnish with chopped spring onions to serve.