"Life doesn't seem hard when you are smiling through it."

Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen who is doing a series of Chinese American food recipes for us here on Simply Recipes. ~Elise

The first time I attempted to cook fried rice on my own, I was 15 and my parents and little brother were in Europe on vacation. I stayed home to attend summer school and to enjoy a little freedom living on my own for a couple of weeks.

Since my Mom was the queen in the kitchen, I didn’t really cook too much back then. My job was just to eat and enjoy her wonderful home cooked meals. But that week, after 3 days of instant ramen, I was longing for something a little more substantial. Too lazy to bike to the market, I decided on fried rice. I steamed a batch of rice and found enough bits of vegetables to make the dish.

It was a total disaster. Mushy, soggy and goopy. Back to Top Ramen for another 10 days.

When the family returned, I told Mom about my fried rice misfortune and she laughed, “You better start learning from me before you go off to college or you’ll starve!” And a crash course in fried rice followed the next day.

So here I am to teach you what I learned from my Mom. These are her secrets to light, fluffy and flavorful fried rice, no matter what ingredients you use.

Continue reading "Shrimp Fried Rice" »

The first time I stumbled upon Jaden Hair's Steamy Kitchen food blog I had major blog envy. Who was this hilarious and irreverent woman? And how was it that she could make food look that good? I was hooked, an early convert to Jaden's humor, playfulness, and drop-dead delicious Asian food. (Actually, not only Asian food, take a look at this post on cooking steak, and her fresh ginger tips.)

Well, with the eyes of the world on Beijing this week, I'm delighted to let you know that Jaden will be guest authoring a series on Simply Recipes, focusing on classic Chinese American food recipes. In her first post Jaden shares her mom's secrets to perfect fried rice. Welcome to Simply Recipes, Jaden!