stuart james beall

• Basmati Rice.
• Yellow onions.
• Fresh corn.
• Fresh carrot.
• Fresh garlic cloves.
• Fresh green onions.
• Frozen green peas.
• toasted sesame oil.
• salted butter.
• soy sauce (or Bragg Liquid Aminos).
• sea salt.
• oyster sauce.
• Sri Lankan Curry Powder.

I start with a good automatic rice cooker. Measure two cups of uncooked Basmati rice, with water. Follow directions for your cooker, and cook on the white rice setting. Allow rice to cool, put into a food storage container and store in refrigerator overnight.

Next, get a large wok ready on your stovetop. I use the Lodge cast iron wok. Put about 6 Tablespoons of butter into wok. Chop a large yellow onion, and put into wok. I use Vidalia or Walla Walla onions when available. Peel and dice a large carrot, and put into wok. Using a butcher knife slice the kernels from a large ear of corn, and put into wok. Put about 2 Cups of frozen peas into wok. Put 1 teaspoon of sea salt into wok. Turn on the heat, to high setting.

While the wok is heating up, measure in 2 Tablespoons of Sr Lankan Curry Powder. This is the key ingredient. I use Aachi brand curry powder. My bag of Aachi expired over six years ago, and it’s still the best tasting curry I ever used. If your store-branded curry blend doesn’t actually have curry leaf in it, throw it away! Really!

Stir up the veggies well, using a bamboo spatula. Cook for about 4 minutes, and don’t let it burn. Peel about 6 fresh cloves of garlic. Crush the cloves with a garlic press, or simply mince with a knife, and put into wok.

Put cooked rice into wok. Measure out 2 Tablespoons of oyster sauce, 1 Tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, and 6 Tablespoons of soy sauce. Stir well into the rice, and cover with lid. Reduce heat to medium.

Chop or slice 4 or 5 green onions, and set aside in a separate bowl. I actually cut them with a kitchen scissor.

When the rice is hot, turn off heat, and stir in the chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

For convenience you can use frozen bags of diced vegetables, instead of fresh. You might substitute hot pepper oil (olive oil infused with chili peppers) for the butter.