Fried Rice with Chicken

I tend to cut my prep time with peppers every time I come home from the market. Last week I went down to the farmers market and brought back 2 peppers of each color. I like to slice them and put them in plastic bags and just keep in the freezer. So while I was going about my routine chopping, I thought of making a quick and easy Fried Rice.

Now this post may seem on the long side, but I promise it doesn't really take as long as it looks! The trick in  fried rice is all in the prep work. Once you have all your ingredients chopped or sliced, it just takes turns cooking in the wok.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1/2 cup red peppers, sliced
1/2 cup green peppers, sliced
 Small to medium handfull of green beans
1 tbsp. ginger, grated
3-4 scallions
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2-4 chicken breasts, sliced (depending on size)
1 1/2 cups rice (I like jasmine- cook separately!)
Vegetable oil (several tspns to coat the wok)
1/4 cup ponzy, or soy sauce (ponzu is a citrus based soy sauce)

First you want to start by making the rice. Using these measurements it should give you 4 servings. If you're unsure about proper measurements while making rice, a great rule of thumb is using twice as much water as you use uncooked rice. In this case I used 1 1/2 cups of Rice, so I used 3 cups water. I like to season the water with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp butter. Sometimes I also add additional grated ginger to add more flavor to the rice. Cover and cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until rice is cooked through and tender.

While the rice is cooking you can get started on all your veggies. Slice red and green peppers, green beans, scallions, onion and garlic. (Feel free to add other vegetables such as carrots or peas). Once you have all the vegetables sliced, place in a medium bowl and set aside. Slice the chicken on a bias or a diagonal in about 1/2 inch thick pieces. Place in separate bowl and set aside. Now you are ready to start the actual stir-fry process!

Heat the wok and add about 1 tbsp. vegetale oil. Add the eggs and coat around the pan, make sure they cook thru, almost like a light scramble. Once cooked thru, remove from wok and place in a small bowl. Next add 2 tsp of veg. oil to the wok and sautee all the vegetables. Add about 1 tbsp of the ponzu to the vegetables. Sautee until the vegetables are soft and cooked thru. Remove from wok and place back in bowl. Next do the same with the chicken, until that too is cooked thru. Since its thinly sliced it should only take about 7 minutes to cook thru. Remove from wok once cooked.

Now we finally get to combine all ingredients. Heat the wok with some oil, about  2-3 tspns. Add the rice, vegetables and chicken and cooked eggs. Mix well and add the remainder of the soy sauce, a little of the time. Feel free to taste or use less of the ponzu.