Warm Spicy And Easy

This Malay rice is not only quick and easy, it’s great tasting too.

This is a complete meal too because it’s chock full of veggies. The chicken is essentially a condiment in this dish, as it is in many Asian meals.

The chicken cooks quickly and uses the drop-of-honey trick so it browns and doesn’t overcook.

This Malay rice is also a great meal for the budget conscious since it will feed quite a few people using only a small amount of pricier ingredients.

I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this because I understand that Malaysians use special spices. The recipe is adapted from Mary Berry’s one and those are the spices she used. I figure it must be pretty close because Ms. Berry’s husband lived in Malaysia and ate this regularly and gave it a thumbs-up!

Leftover Rice Is Best

When making any fried rice, cold rice is necessary to achieve separation and crispiness.

Because of this, leftover rice is perfect for this recipe. I usually have this on hand if I’ve ordered Chinese take-out earlier in the week. Since I hate throwing it out–and often forget about it so I end up doing just that–I used that here.

If you don’t have anything left over, then you can cook the rice a day before you plan to make this recipe.  Just put it in a covered container and store it in the fridge.

As for the peas, Mary Berry cooked them with the rice. I felt this would overcook them somewhat when you cook the dish so I just ran them under hot water to wash off the frost then let them drain.

Curry Powder?

I knew I would like this Malay rice when I saw the spices.

One thing I found out years ago–by mistake I might add–was that curry powder is an excellent seasoning for chicken regardless of what you are doing with it. I used it in the seasoned flour I dredged plain old chicken cutlets in. Tasted fantastic so I knew it’d be perfect in this.

The Recipe

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Malay Fried Rice

This Malay fried rice is not only quick and easy to make, but it is also delicious! It's a complete meal too because it’s chock full of veggies. The chicken is essentially a condiment in this dish, as it is in many Asian meals.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: Asian chicken recipe, fried rice

Servings: 4

Calories: 329kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts cut into strips
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tbs honey
• Salt and pepper to season chicken
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper chopped
• 3 cloves garlic finely minced or put through a press
• 8 oz button mushrooms sliced
• 1/2 tsp mild chili powder
• 1 tbs curry powder
• 1 cup cooked rice chilled
• 2/3 cup frozen peas
• 4 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

• Rinse peas under hot water to remove frost; drain.
• Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over high heat.Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pan and drizzle with the honey. Stir chicken constantly until it starts to get golden. Remove from pan and keep warm.
• Add a large chopped onion into the pan, chop red pepper and crush three cloves of garlic. Fry all these ingredients for 5 minutes in the same skillet as the chicken and then add the chopped button mushrooms.
• Add the chili & curry powder and stir well.
• Stir in cooked rice and peas. Then add 4 tbsp of soy sauce and fry on a high heat. Stir in your chicken and heat through.

Nutrition

Calories: 329kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 1151mg | Potassium: 861mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1500IU | Vitamin C: 62.5mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2.3mg

*Adapted from Mary Berry

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Dust off your slow cooker, put some Harry Belafonte on the stereo and enjoy a taste of the Caribbean with ths Calypso-inspired pork chop recipe.

I’m determined to use my slow cooker more often!  This was one New Year’s resolution I plan to stick to.  I gave up diets and exercising YEARS ago–this one at least is doable.

Check out that yummy sauce

I buy a lot of pork chops because I like them.  Often there are specials where you can get “assorted” chops–which are the whole loin–for about $1 per pound, so I stock up. Unfortunately, some bags I repack with my Foodsaver get lost in the bottom of the freezer.  And yes, sometimes the vacuum seal pops.  I found a couple of popped seals the other day when I was picking through the freezer.  No, not really freezer burned, but it was going to start.  Who HASN’T this happened to???

Slow Cooker Calypso Pork Chops

So I figured I’d do something with a highly flavored sauce just in case those couple of chops got that funky “freezer-burn taste” and it would be hidden.

Dig In

The result was quite delicious here, and if there was any freezer burn funkiness, I sure didn’t taste it.

I give a range for the red pepper flakes.  The 1/2 tsp will give you a nice zip of heat.  If you’d like it a little milder, then use the 1/4 tsp where you just get a flavor.


Slow Cooker Calypso Pork Chops

• 6 meaty bone-in pork chops
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs cider vinegar
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbs cornstarch
• oil for browning
• 2 green onions, sliced

Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil.  Brown pork chops well on all sides.  Remove pork chops from pan. Add the 1/2 cup water and scrape up all the burny bits in the pan (deglaze).  Reserve liquid and drippings.


In a medium bowl, mix entire contents of pineapple can (juice + pineapple chunks), the reserved liquid from the pork chop pan, the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, curry powder, ground ginger and pepper flakes. Mix well and pour into the crock of a 5-7 quart slow cooker.


Place pork chops on top of sauce.  Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or until pork chops are tender.


Remove pork chops to serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm, preferably in a warm oven.


Mix the cornstarch and 1/2 cup water.  Add to juice in slow cooker, stirring while adding; stir well.  Cover slow cooker and cook sauce for 15 minutes.


Ladle sauce over pork chops.  Top with sliced green onion.


Makes 6 servings.

Slow Cooker Calypso Pork Chops

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