Tuna and Egg Fried Rice

I know this is Tuna Fried Rice that you see here, but let me share with you a story about salmon. The first time I had salmon, and by that I mean proper salmon, was some 3-4 years in this restaurant called Sakura in New Delhi. Now Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore have this culture of a Restaurant Week twice every year — one in April and another in September. The deal with this Restaurant Week is that you can get a 3-course fine dine experience in some of the top notch restaurants in the city for a sum of 1,000 INR + taxes. From a month beforehand I would keep aside the money that I would require to make full use of the Restaurant Week. As you all know by now, I am a journalist by profession which means that I have to clock in at office late in the afternoon and work till midnight. Naturally then, most of my friends (who worked normal hours) would fail to join me for my lunch endeavours. But this did nothing to deter me, never! I would dress up in my office attire, tug a bag on my shoulder and leave for my day's agenda, which included first, the restaurant in question and then after a heavy and hearty meal, the workplace.

One such afternoon saw me making my way to Sakura, braving the hot Delhi sun. Sakura, a part of the Metropolitan Hotel in Bangla Sahib Road, specialises in Japanese cuisine. My Japanese tryst till then had been limited to sushi, sashimi and nigiri — all of which I loved to the core (Yes, I'm a Bengali who loves her maachh-bhaat!) and I was fervently looking forward to real Jap fare. The feast began with the usual sushi rolls and made way to a Grilled Salmon (most probably in a teriyaki marinade, I don't quite remember) for entree. One bite into that smoky, flaky salmon and my life changed forever. Every single fish I've had all my life, everything whose taste I thought nothing else could ever beat, lost their standing. I was in salmon heaven. I forgot what came after that, maybe Udon Noodles in Miso Soup and then a Wasabi Ice Cream (both of which were pretty darn good) but all I was obsessing about was the salmon. I decided that if there's any one food item that I had to live on this would be it.

So when I was in Australia a couple of months back, I made it a point to gorge on all kinds of seafood — calamari, scallops, octopus and what have you! Right before the day I was slated to return my friend K's husband N took me to Costco, where I spent a fortune loading my trolley with chocolates, spices, tea, dressings and of course tinned seafood. How that got packed in a single suitcase is a story I'd be too embarrassed to tell, so let's not go there.

A few days back when I was thinking of what 5 min dish I could rustle up for my dinner at work, my eyes tracked those tins that were sitting in the fridge. Next it hit on the bowl of brown rice that I had left over from the day before. Problem solved, a quick salmon fried rice it would be! And then in my excitement, instead of salmon I plucked open a can of tuna. I could have still opened a salmon can and made a Tuna and Salmon Fried Rice, but the quantity of rice I had at hand did not merit two cans of seafood. So I settled with tuna. And here's what I got.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Brown rice, cooked and ideally a day old: 2 cups
Tuna flakes: 1 can/200 gm
Egg: 1
Capsicum, sliced into 2 inch pieces: 1/2
Beans, chopped into 1 inch pieces: 6-7
Onion, chopped finely: 1 small
Ginger, minced: 3/4 tsp
Garlic, minced: 1 tsp
Soy sauce: 1.5 tsp
Fish sauce: 1.5 tbsp
Rice vinegar: 2 tsp
Olive oil: 2 tsp
Salt: to taste
Pepper powder: 3/4 tsp
Sugar: 1 tsp

Method:

1.  Heat oil a non stick pan wok on high. In a bowl, crack the egg along with salt and black pepper. Whisk the eggs and scramble it for a minute or so in the pan. Set aside.

2.  Add another tsp of oil in the pan. Add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and stir on high heat for a couple of minutes. Now add the beans and capsicum and continue to stir till onions become translucent and beans cooked.

3.  In a small bowl, stir the soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and add it to the pan.

4.  Now add the brown rice, mix well and stir on high for a couple of minutes to let the flavours permeate through the rice.

5. Add the scrambled eggs and tuna flakes. Mix well. Check for seasoning and add whatever necessary. Stir for a couple of minutes and serve hot by itself or a choice of your favourite side dish. 

If you like what you see here, don't forget to hop on to my Facebook page and click the "Like" button. All Guilt Free posts will reach you in your newsfeed. :)