4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 shallots, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons sherry
3 cups white rice, cooked
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon hot sauce
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shallot and fry quickly for about 10 seconds, then stir in the mushrooms.
2. Fry mushrooms until lightly browned, stirring often, then add the sherry. Continue cooking until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add the rice and break apart with a wooden spoon. Continue frying until heated through.
4. Meanwhile, heat another skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. Add the beaten eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fry covered for about 2 minutes, or until egg starts to set.
5. Flip egg over and fry for an additional minute.
6. Combine soy sauce and chicken broth and pour over rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and fry to desired consistency.
7. Plate rice and top with fried egg. Drizzle with hot sauce and garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Makes 4 servings

I'm not entirely sure why, but I've been craving fried rice lately. It could be in regards to a conversation that ensued about fried rice the night before the Curried Goat. Whatever it is, I finally decided to make some. I used to make fried rice a lot when I was a vegetarian, but quite differently than this recipe. I would fry the rice by itself before adding liquid and then continue to fry it until it was dried out to nothing. My favorite was with canned shrimp, but this crispy, dry version of fried rice is probably my favorite.

In hindsight, instead of making this Mushroom Fried Rice recipe, I should've just done something like that. It's not that this recipe was bad, but it didn't seem to be lacking something. Luckily there are so many variations of fried rice that I'll likely work this into a full meal again some time in the future. I did like the fried egg addition though. Normally I would beat the egg and throw it directly in with the rice, but being able to have a forkful along with it instead was good. Again with the sherry, only this time I didn't really notice any presence by it whatsoever. Of course, this was only a few tablespoons amongst several cups of rice, so that stands to reason. If I had any scallions I definitely would've thrown them in this, too.

It seems as though cilantro ends up in my fridge almost as often as parsley now. It was even somewhat enjoyable in this dish. Perhaps all that work to grow to enjoy it is finally paying off. All those torturous meals of cilantro infused dishes will have not been eaten in vain! That or I'm getting better at disguising it with other flavors. I'm not sure yet.