Yakimeshi Brasileiro

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 30 cm skillet or wok
• •Thin-edged spatula
• •Rimmed baking sheet for cooling fresh rice, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Loosen the rice

   Break the cold rice apart with your fingers or a fork until the grains are mostly separate. If you find hard clumps, crumble them now, not in the pan. Cold, dry grains fry and stay soltinhos; big clumps stay pale inside and turn pasty when you attack them too late.

   No leftover rice? Spread fresh cooked rice on a tray and chill it uncovered for 30 minutes. It won't be as dry as yesterday's rice, but a Tuesday is a Tuesday and it works.
2. 2

   Set everything ready

   Beat the eggs with the salt, chop the onion and garlic, measure the vegetables, and keep the shoyu beside the stove. Once the pan is hot, this moves fast. If you're still hunting for a spoon while the garlic is browning, the garlic will punish you. Ask me how I know.

3. 3

   Cook the eggs

   Heat a wide skillet or wok over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour in the beaten eggs and push them gently with a spatula until they form soft, shiny curds, about 1 minute. Take them out while they still look a little tender, because they'll finish later and nobody invited rubbery egg to dinner.

4. 4

   Start the refogado

   Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the same pan. Add the onion and cook until it goes soft and see-through, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until you smell it. This quick refogado is where the flavor starts; burnt garlic is bitter and it follows you through the whole pan.

5. 5

   Cook the vegetables

   Add the carrot and cook until the cubes brighten and lose their raw edge, about 2 minutes. Add the peas and stir until they look glossy and green, about 1 minute. Small pieces matter here, because they cook in the time the rice fries. Big chunks stay raw and then you blame the recipe, coitada.

6. 6

   Fry the rice

   Turn the heat to high, add the last 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the rice. Spread it across the pan and let it sit for 30 seconds before stirring. You should hear a steady sizzle and smell the rice getting toasty. Stir, spread, and let it hit the pan again. This is frying, not warming. If the pan is crowded, the rice sweats and goes heavy.

   Doubling the recipe? Fry the rice in two batches. A mountain of rice in one pan traps moisture, and then you're steaming dinner instead of building flavor.
7. 7

   Season with shoyu

   Add the cooked chicken or pork, if using, and toss until it is hot through. Pour the shoyu around the edge of the pan, not straight into the center, and stir fast. The hot metal wakes up the shoyu and gives you that toasted smell. Dump it into one wet spot and you get salty patches instead of seasoned rice.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Return the eggs to the pan and break them into pieces with the spatula. Add most of the scallions and the sesame oil, if using, then toss once more. Taste before adding salt, because shoyu already brings plenty. The rice should look separate and glossy, with yellow egg, orange carrot, green peas, and little browned edges. Serve right away, with feijão or a simple green salad if that's how you're resolving the plate tonight.

Chef Tips

• •Leftover arroz soltinho is the whole point. Rice that was cooked with too much water will still taste good, but it won't fry as cleanly. Next time, use 2 cups water for 1 cup rice, make a real refogado first, and stop stirring once the lid goes on.
• •Don't use seasoning cubes or powdered packets here. Shoyu, onion, garlic, egg, and browned rice already know what they're doing. The packet mostly brings salt and the illusion of help.
• •Use the vegetables that make sense: carrot, peas, green beans, cabbage, or corn. Tired vegetables don't become noble because they entered a frying pan. Trim what is good and compost what is gone.
• •Ham is common in many restaurant versions. At home, I prefer leftover roasted chicken or pork when I have it. If you use ham because that's what the fridge gave you, use less shoyu, because it brings its own salt and its own cost.
• •Serve it like a Brazilian table, not like a performance. A bowl of yakimeshi, a spoon of feijão if there's some, and something green beside it. That's enough. Dinner does not need fireworks.

Advance Preparation

• •Best plan: cook the rice the day before, spread it in a shallow container so it cools quickly, then refrigerate it covered within 1 hour.
• •The vegetables and cooked meat can be chopped up to 1 day ahead and kept covered in the fridge.
• •Leftover yakimeshi keeps up to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat it in a hot skillet with a few drops of oil so the grains wake back up instead of turning soft.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 290g)