Health Cuisine: Claypot Benjarong Fried Rice

Health cuisine has become a popular trend in today’s food business. Combining a popular dish and healthy ingredients, Assist. Prof. Suwannee Arjharnnarong, lecturer at the Faculty of Home Economics Technology, introduces an easy-to-make menu that is rich in nutrients, flavors, and colors.

“This menu is called Claypot Benjarong Fried Rice. It’s considered a healthy dish that brings together all kinds of nutritious ingredients, such as carrots which have vitamin A and betacarotene for nurturing the eyesight and skin tone, shitake mushrooms which are good for the brain and nervous systems, ginkos which help maintain the respiratory system, and string beans which are rich with calcium and good for the bones and aid the digestive system,” she explained.

“To make this dish, you only need to use regular cooking equipment, such as a stove, wok, spatula, chopping board, large bowl, rice cooker, and a pair of chopsticks. The main ingredients are white rice, glutinous rice, vegetable oil, aged ginger, grounded pepper, cooking stock, pork-flavored seasoning, Chinese soy sauce, dried shitake mushrooms, carrots, string beans, ginkos, and dried shrimps.

“Begin by cooking rice in the rick cooker. For this dish, we need to mix white rice with glutinous rice at the ratio of 5 to 1. Rinse both types of rice in water thoroughly, then put them aside to dry, while turing your attention to the other ingredients.

“Soak the shitakes in water until soft, then slice into strips. De-skin the ginger, rinse in water, and cut into thin slices. De-skin the carrots, rinse in water, and chop into dice. Rinse the string beans and chop into small chunks. Soak dried shrimps in water, and boil the ginkos before leaving them aside.

“When you are finished preparing all the ingredients, put the wok on the stove using medium heat. Pour some cooking oil into the wok, followed by chopped ginger and stir-fry until you can smell its aroma, then put in sliced shitake and dried shrimps, and stir-fry the ingredients 4 to 5 times. Put in the rice, stir-fry lightly, then season with soy sauce and the seasoning. Continue to stir-fry using high heat for 10 minutes until the fried rice looks done.

“Then, put the fried-rice into the rice cooker, together with the rest of the ingredients, namely carrots, string beans, and ginkos. Pour some stock over the rice, and stir until well-mixed. Press the cook button and wait until done. Or if you don’t have the rice cooker, you can use a steamer.

“When done, use the chopsticks to stir the rice instead of the spatula, in order not maintain the rice’s texture. Serve in a plate and season with fish sauce, sliced red onion, and chopped bird’s eye chili for better taste,” Prof. Suwannee explained.

Claypot Benjarong Fried Rice is easy to make and can be an item on the menu if you open a restaurant. For more information or questions about how to make this dish, contact Prof. Suwannee at 081 432 0147.