Com chien: fried rice
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
A great way to recycle leftover rice.
Ingredients
  • 1.5 cup uncooked rice (careful, it's the cup that comes with rice cookers, so that's 270mL of rice) + 1⅞ cup water (aka 340mL water), or the equivalent in cooked rice (basically, cooked rice for 3 people)
  • 2 tablespoons dried shrimps
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 140g corn kernels
  • 5-6 shallots
  • A few drops maggi sauce (optional)
Instructions
  1. Some time before starting the recipe, cook the rice (this is *really* best done a day ahead, which is why this is a great dish for leftover rice. Otherwise it gets a bit hard to actually fry the rice...)
  2. Beat the eggs and the fish sauce together. Mince the shallots as fine as you can.
  3. In a frying pan, put a little oil, and cook a proto-omelette (basically, you want the eggs firm, but in bits and pieces--sort of like scrambled eggs, but firmer). Put the cooked eggs aside.
  4. Put the shallots in the frying pan, and cook them until soft and fragrant. Then add the dried shrimps and the corn, and swirl a bit until they're hot.
  5. Add more oil in the pan, and then the rice bit by bit, breaking it up as you go and making sure it's well mixed with the garnish. Then add a few drops maggi sauce if using, give it a few more swirls, et voilĂ !
  6. Serve hot.
Notes
This is also great with little flecks of crab, or pretty much any combination you can think of (for once, I'd actually advise against garlic, because it doesn't mesh so well with the eggs and fish sauce). If adding ingredients like chicken or pork, which have next to no umami, don't forget to increase the amount of dried shrimps/shallots/maggi sauce!
(while in Vietnam, we ate this with the local Tet sausages, which made a great addition)
Recipe by Aliette de Bodard at https://www.aliettedebodard.com/recipes/com-chien-fried-rice/