Fried Rice with Shirasu and Tuna Floss - 雙魚炒飯

Shirasu is definitely one of my top three favorite fish in the world. Tuna might come in 2nd place or so. Both fish are very versatile and can be used in all types of cuisine in so many ways. This time, I'm going to combine the two and turn them into my Chinese comfort food - fried rice with shirasu and tuna floss.

Ingredients (4 to 5 portion)?

3 cups of white rice
3 cups of mizuna (Japanese water greens) 
1/2 cup or 120 grams of shirasu
2 eggs
5 cremini mushroom
6 fresh red chilies
1 carrot
2 medium shallots
1 stalk of scallion
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
Some olive oil
Some tuna floss
Some toasted white sesame seeds

How?

Cook 3 cups of white rice accordingly to package instruction. Some people said using day old rice is the best way to make fried rice. Mainly because the rice will separate nicely and the grains will have a more chewy texture. That's not the case for me.

I like to use freshly steamed rice because it seems to absorb the seasonings better. In addition, if you cook it right, all the individual grains will still separate nicely instead of sticking together like chunks of rice balls. On top of that, if you do like your grains on the chewier side, just use less water while making the rice.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan and turn to medium high heat. Break two eggs into a small bowl and add a tiny pinch of sea salt. Beat the eggs and pour into the pan. Wait for a short moment, about 10 seconds then start to scramble the eggs with spatula. Cook the eggs till slightly browned color. In the mean time, try to break the eggs into smaller bits. Once done, scoop out the scrambled eggs and set aside for later use.

Peel and finely chop the shallots. Remove the stems from the chilies and scallion, finely chop them into smaller bits. Peel and chop the carrot into little cubes. Halve the cremini mushroom then thinly slice them. Lastly, chop the mizuna into smaller bits also. If you can't find mizuna, substitute it with other type of fragrant greens. I suppose mix up some spinach with flat leaf parsley would be a good alternative.

Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a deep pan and turn to medium high heat. Add the shallots, scallion, chilies into the pan along with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Give it a quick stir and cook till the shallots just starts to brown on the edges.

Add the carrot and mushroom, cook for about one minute then pour in the mizuna. Add the fish sauce and cook till the greens wilted down. Now add the scrambled eggs back to the mixture along with shirasu. Cook for additional minute or two. Taste the mixture and add more fish sauce if not salty enough. It should be on the salty side since we are going to add in large amount of rice, which will dilute the taste.

Mix in the rice in two batches. Make sure all the grains are coated with the sauce. You can tell by looking at the color on the rice. If you see anything white as paper, attack!

You can definitely enjoy the fried rice at it is with some toasted white sesame seeds, but why not top it with some tuna floss, double the joy!

I would suggest serving this dish with clear clams and ginger soup? Make it a Chinese comfort food feast - seafood style!

Other shirasu related recipes:

• Healthy porridge with shirasu, leftover vegetables, and chicken stock
• Shirasu and vegetable pancakes
• Semi stir-fry amaranth with shirasu