Shrimp Fried at Home

My husband and I can never finish the steamed rice from Chinese takeout, so I came up with a fast-and-easy Shrimp Fried Rice.

I store the leftover steamed rice in the freezer in a zip bag and take it out in the morning before I leave for work. I always keep a bag of frozen and deveined raw shrimp in my freezer. I take approximately 10 frozen shrimp out of the freezer and store them in the refrigerator.

When I get home and have a starving husband looking at me, I chop half a red bell pepper, slice three large green onions, shred a small Chinese cabbage and cut the shrimp into pieces.

Next I heat a stir-fry pan and coat it with 1 tablespoon oil. To make things easy, I always have jars of fresh chopped garlic and ginger in my refrigerator. I add 1 teaspoon of each to the pan, stir-fry for about 30 seconds on high heat, add red pepper and shrimp and stir-fry until shrimp turn pink, about three minutes. If I have sesame oil on hand, I sprinkle a bit on the shrimp before cooking, then I add the rice and sprinkle with low-sodium soy sauce to taste, about a third of a cup. I stir-fry it all until hot, then add the green onions and cabbage and stir-fry until the cabbage is wilted, about one minute.

JACKIE BITTNER

Valencia