d) Tell us about a meal.
My parents have left me to fend for myself for two weeks while they attend a funeral out of state.
After the first week, the groceries began to dwindle. Currently on day 9 of 12, I am on a lazy mission to stay home and scavenge my fridge and backyard garden for food, because driving five minutes to the grocery store is too much work for this millennial.
Here’s lunch:
From my backyard, I picked two medium tomatoes (pictured) and a few pieces of scallions (not pictured).
From my fridge, I scavenged leftover white rice (a little over a cup), the last of the mushrooms (five ish), and about a third of the remaining ground beef (I… don’t know how to measure food).
If anyone is actually considering making this dish and doesn’t have leftover rice, this is the time to begin cooking rice. Use the rice cooker if you’re Asian. Follow this recipe is you’re not (admittedly, I’ve never tried it out. But it’s one of the top results on Google and has decent reviews).
All vegetables are washed and cut and the stove is turned to high to preheat the pan.
A tiny amount of vegetable oil is added to the pan to give it a slight coating. Don’t overdo it, since cooking the ground beef will eventually render out the fat.
Mushrooms are added to the pan and the pan is stirred. After about a minute and once the mushrooms gained some color, the scallions are added.
Stir and LIGHTLY season with salt (since we are seasoning after each step, you gotta make sure not to overdo it on the initial seasoning)..
Add ground beef. Lightly season with salt and stir.
Once the ground beef is browned, add tomatoes and turn the stove to medium. Lightly season with salt and stir. Cover the pot to render out tomato juice. You’re basically making tomato sauce.
While waiting for the tomatoes to break down (about five minutes for me, but this will depend on the surface area of your pot and how small your tomato pieces are), I cleaned up my cutting board and microwaved my leftover rice.
Once the tomatoes have mostly liquified, add rice. Season (salt and msg, with a dash of white vinegar) to taste, stir, and cover for about two more minutes.
Plate and serve (make sure to wipe that plate so your food looks fancier than it is). Top with some fresh scallions to make it look prettier (too bad I hate scallions).
The dish is sweet and savory and sour and tasty; and it only takes maybe 15 minutes from start to finish. The only downside is the abundance of tomato skins (#FirstWorldProblems). I don’t mind it too much and usually just eat around it, but you can also pick it out as it cooks.
All ingredients can also easily be substituted. Chicken and eggs work great as proteins and the dish can be turn vegetarian by using tofu or adding other veggies (an assortment of mushrooms, spinach, onions, etc.).
Easy and tasty.
10/10 would cook again. Let laziness reign.
Note: I’m not a chef nor a (food) blogger, and will not be responsible for any possible food poisonings from attempts at replicating this dish.
Blogger Application 2019 