In praise of leftovers

This morning I woke up to the sound of ‘Mom, I’m really hungry and there’s nothing to eat’.

So I got out of bed, padded to the kitchen, pulled my gown a little tighter because gosh it was freezing, and opened the door to the refrigerator, fully expecting to see something that could be turned into brunch. Yes, it was also nearly 11h00 😳

Nothing.

So I opened the door to the small freezer. Mmm, maybe I could steam some Char Siu Bow (Chinese steamed buns), but that would take at least 30 minutes to steam from frozen. Then I opened the large freezer. The same option there.

So back to the refrigerator I went. Leftovers! A bowl of egg fried rice from the night before begged me to heat it up. But that’s quite bland on its own, so I poked around some more. And found some left over chicken and mushroom stir fry. Not a breakfast or a brunch dish, but I was sure I could do something with it.

I lay everything out on the kitchen counter and surveyed my ‘loot’. Now, how to put this all together so that it will look appetizing? I had just been bragging the day before to my somatologist that I used to be the queen of disguised leftovers when I was first married. So I felt the need to live up to that today even if just for myself. And then it came to me! An egg and rice bowl that I had watched demonstrated on TV over and over again a few months earlier. Now was the time to try it!

This is how I made it, in under 15 minutes.

One fried egg, either easy over or sunny side up. Place upside down in a deep-ish bowl. Reheat the leftovers thoroughly. Now layer a couple of leftover baby pak choy leaves, followed by a layer of leftover shiitake mushrooms, followed by some shredded leftover chicken and then fill the bowl up to the top with the egg fried rice. If you have some leftover gravy, this can be drizzled over the rice now. Set a weight on top of the bowl to compact the rice mixture for about 2 minutes. Invert the rice bowl over a plate. Voila! Your fried egg will be sitting beautifully on top of the rice. Drizzle with a little soya sauce and serve.

My daughter pronounced it ‘delicious’!

I think the Chinese chef had mixed some frozen baby peas and chopped scallions into the rice, and scattered some fresh coriander leaves after inverting the bowl onto the plate. All of which sounds delicious too!

Until next time ☕️