by Natasha Sheldon

Created on: September 17, 2008   Last Updated: April 17, 2009

If you fancy a Chinese, there is no need to head down the local takeaway. Chinese food is quick and easy. It's also a lot healthier cooked at home. Cooking it yourself gives you cleaner, purer flavours unsullied by too much oil and mono sodium glutamate.

Redolent with the taste of Chinese five spices and soy sauce, this quick fix stir fry dish is an instant taste of the orient.

Ingredient:

2 tablespoons oil.

1 finely chopped onion.

3 soaked and chopped Chinese mushrooms.

225g/8oz diced pork steak.

1 tablespoon soy sauce.

1 tablespoon dry sherry.

1 teaspoon five spice powder.

300g/11 oz cooked white rice.

Seasoning.

Chopped spring onion

Method:

First, cook the rice. Take a large pan of salted water and cook until tender. Drain the rice and rinse in cold water before setting aside until needed.

In a wok or large frying pan, fry the onions and mushrooms for matter of seconds before adding the pork steak. Fry briskly for at least 2 minutes. Add the sherry, five spices and then the soy sauce before mixing in the rice and stir frying for a minute.

Season with salt and black pepper before finishing the dish with the spring onion. Serve immediately.

Tips:

If you are particularly health conscious or just fancy a change, try substituting the white rice for brown? The nutty taste of brown rice adds a pleasant extra dimension without overpowering the other flavours of the dish. Its also better for you than refined white rice.

Turn simple pork fried rice into pork egg fried rice. Simply break one egg into the wok just before adding the rice for the final stir fry.

Add an ounce of small shrimps or prawns

Change the meat. Pork fried rice is great but why not try this dish with chicken or sea food?

Vary the vegetables. Cut down on the meat and add extra vegetables such as peas or maybe some bean sprouts. If you do this, add the vegetables at the very end with the rice.

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