Recipe: Ginger Fried Rice with Leeks

such a cheery color

I fell in love with leeks last March while in London visiting, in part, my friend H. We went to her local Marylebone Farmers’ Market and picked up piles of fresh leeks and kale. I have wonderful memories of standing in the kitchen with H, listening to Ingrid Michaelson, and cooking mountains of sautéed kale and leeks.

Ever since then, I’ve scanned Sniatyn’s bazaar and shops for leeks, to no avail. Yesterday, however, after more than two years in Ukraine, I finally saw leeks for sale yesterday in my town’s “овочі-фрукти” (ovochi-frukty; literally “vegetables-fruit”) shop. I bought two stalks (are they called stalks?) — should’ve bought all three — and excitedly showed them to Iryna after English club. “What are these called in Ukrainian?” I asked her. “They are цибуля-порей (tsybulia-porey).” I told her how excited I had been to find them and she said, “I have those in my garden and in my field!” If only I had known…

Anyway, I spent some time browsing the interwebs last night for leek recipes; I knew I could just sauté them and they’d be delicious, but I wondered if any of my favorite recipe sites/blogs had interesting recipes. Lo and behold, smitten kitchen has a great-looking ginger fried rice recipe that uses leeks. I adapted the recipe a bit to suit my style and available ingredients. It turned out deliciously. The fried egg on top is a must.

Ginger Fried Rice with Leeks

Ingredients

• 5-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• to taste: salt & pepper
• 1 leek, cut in half lengthwise & thinly sliced
• 1-3 cups cooked rice
• soy sauce, to taste
• 1 egg

Procedure

• Heat your oil of choice (I use sunflower oil here in Ukraine) and saute the garlic and ginger over medium heat until they are brown and crispy.
• Add the leeks and season to taste. Cook over low-medium heat until the leeks are tender but not brown.
• Add the rice to the pan and sprinkle with soy sauce to your taste. Stir often so the rice heats through.
• While the rice is heating up, fry an egg sunny-side up in another pan.
• Serve fried rice with the egg on top.

fried egg on top is a must

смачного!