Leftover Magic: Fried Rice

I had dinner with some friends last night at RUB BBQ, and even though we didn't order a Baron (which is an obscene amount of food), I still ended up with a whole bunch of leftovers to bring home (brisket, some potato salad, and some awesome baked beans that I ate for breakfast. Weird? Maybe, but damn were they tasty!) I could have just eaten the brisket cold and would probably have done that, but I'm feeling slightly less lazy today than I normally do on a Saturday. Plus, I cleaned my fridge out this morning and found some things that needed to be used up in short order...and there's no better way of dealing with leftovers and fridge odds-and-ends than fried rice.


Pretty good looking brisket though, right?


And the other ingredients--minced shallots, ginger, diced kabocha squash, and some shredded bok choy. I had half of a squash lurking in the bottom of my produce drawer for ummmmm, probably a month now, and I feel better now that I've used (some of) it. (The rest is going to be steamed, I think.) Oh, it's not in the photo, but obviously I also had some leftover steamed rice--leftover, slightly dried out rice is perfect for fried rice, as freshly cooked rice would be too soft and sticky. I also scrambled up an egg and added that towards the end.


See, the smell of frying rice brings everyone out of hiding. Oh well, I guess there's enough to go around! I don't really have a recipe, exactly, just a method because quite frankly you can change this up however you want. Use whatever vegetables you have, although leafy greens and firmer vegetables (carrots and things like that) are better to use than veggies that give off a lot of liquid. Use high heat, toss often, and most importantly, add a bit of sesame oil at the end and serve immediately. Sambal is essential, in my book, but you of course can feel free to use some other chili sauce or no chili sauce at all. I won't judge! :)