Shirasu Japanese Style Fried Rice (しらす和風焼きご飯)

• servings: 2
• active time: 5 minutes
• total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

200 g cooked rice

20 g shirasu (dried young sardines, may also be called chirimenjako, frozen is fine)

2 dried plums, roughly chopped (umeboshi)

1 green onion, sliced thinly, whites and greens separated

½ tbsp white soup stock (hondashi)

½ tbsp sake

1 tsp soy sauce

3-5 shiso leaves, shredded into smaller pieces

Pinch of sesame seeds

Neutral high-heat oil

Directions

In a medium pan over high heat, allow some neutral oil to come up to temperature. Once the oil is shimmering, add the shirasu and stir fry until aromatic. Add the cooked rice into the pan and break it up with a spatula, mixing it with the shirasu and beginning the stir frying process.

Once the rice grains have started breaking apart from each other, add the white soup stock, sake, whites of the green onions, and the pickled plums and toss the mixture to coat everything. Continue stir frying until the liquid has evaporated and you can no longer smell the alcohol.

Add the soy sauce and continue stir frying until fragrant. Remove from the heat and top with sesame seeds and shiso, and enjoy!

Notes

An umami rich fried rice dish modeled after a Shinjuku restaurant called Shousuke. This egg-less fried rice uses a small list of Japanese ingredients to create a simple but satisfying dish. The star of this dish, the shirasu, are baby sardines that are often sold frozen in the US in Asian grocery stores. These fish have soft bones and are small enough to eat whole. Here, they are stir fried with the rest of the ingredients to impart their mild flavor throughout the whole dish. As always with fried rice, incorporate fridge leftovers as you see fit.