August 22 - Fried Rice for Breakfast

While some people would prefer bread and cereals for breakfast, I think Asians prefer noodles and rice.

Back in the Philippines, we have grown to love garlic fried rice for breakfast. We fry the leftover rice from last night's dinner and eat it with eggs and meat (or salted fish). We call it with many names: tapsilog (cured beef, fried rice and egg), tusilog (cured pork, fried rice and egg), longsilog (sweet sausage, fried rice and egg). Si is short for sinangag, which is the Tagalog word for fried rice. Log is short for itlog, Tagalog word for egg.

So, whenever a Filipino becomes nostalgic (or homesick), one serving of Filipino fried rice for breakfast will surely warm the heart.

Garlic Fried Rice

Ingredients

6 cups leftover cooked white rice

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 thinly sliced Chinese sausage

1 tsp salt

Cooking Time (10 minutes)

Cook the Chinese sausage in a wok, in medium heat. Add the minced garlic and mix together. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the cooked white rice. Add the salt for seasoning.

Mango relish

Ingredients

1 cup diced grape tomatoes

3 cups diced (yellow) mangoes

1 tbsp minced chives

1 tsp sugar

dash of salt and pepper

1 lime, freshly squeezed

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together. You may chill the relish before serving.