I almost always settle on the main course first when I plan my blog posts each week. This week was a little different because I started with a side dish. I tend to think of rice as a side dish, and you very well could serve this on the side. However, I’m thinking this Nigerian Fried Rice recipe would also be comfortable as the main course, especially because it includes a protein. The introduction mentions beef liver or shrimp, but I have to tell you that anything you add to this rice is going to be amazing. Or you could skip the protein completely, and it would still be amazing. I know I usually save that for the end of my review, but this recipe was so good that I can’t stop raving about it!
The Nigerian fried Rice is a staple lunch or dinner dish in Nigeria. Very simple yet delicious recipe. This version uses mixed vegetables and Beef liver, which is one of the most popular choices in Nigeria, you can use Shrimp or any protein you’d like. If you would love to make vegan fried rice you can omit the Beef liver or Shrimps totally!
The Ingredients
One of the nice things about this recipe was the fact that it’s packed very easy to find ingredients. I had several on hand, like vegetable oil, spices, and bouillon. Speaking of bouillon, I used chicken flavored powder. The ingredients do say to use a “stock cube”, but the powder is much easier to mix into food. I also used it to make the 1/2 cup of stock.
I did have to buy the liver, produce, and rice. Here’s what I selected and why:
- Two thin slices of beef liver (be aware it shrinks a lot when cooked)
- Frozen mixed vegetables because canned are too mushy
- Long-grain parboiled rice because it doesn’t clump as much as white rice
The Process
I made this rice dish over two days. There wasn’t any particular need to do it that way, it just happened. Day one was cooking the rice and liver. Here’s how I prepared the rice:
- Rinse the rice until the water ran clear
- Soak for 20 minutes
- Boil for 15 minutes (1 part rice to 2 parts water)
- Allow to cool, then refrigerate in a sealed container
I simply fried the liver between steps of making the rice. Then I let it cool, chopped it into small cubes, and refrigerated it with the rice. I also measured out the frozen vegetables and let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
When I was ready to get started making the fried rice, I was sure to set out the refrigerated items about an hour beforehand so they could warm up to room temperature.
The instructions were sparse, and I had some questions going into this. I wasn’t sure of a few things like how long to saute the onions or when to add the liver. The video with the recipe cleared things up, and I had my Nigerian fried rice ready to serve in 19 minutes. Here are a few tips I discovered along the way:
- Use a saucepan to cook the rice and stock; use a large skillet to fry the rice
- 1/2 cup water + 1/2 teaspoon bouillon powder made the stock
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder = 1 stock cube
- 1 medium yellow onion gave me 1 cup of diced onion
