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Ingredients*
(* I rarely measure anything, so these amounts are my best guess)
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 1 medium onion diced (I aim for quarter inch cubes, and I’m careful to remove the outer layers of the onion first)
- 1 ½ cups of cooked corn (Best of course is sweet corn sliced from the cob. I place fresh sweet corn in boiling water for exactly five minutes—if you boil it longer, it starts to lose flavor. But canned corn or frozen corn also works.)
- 12 ounces of raw mild Italian sausage (You want bulk Italian sausage as opposed to sausage links. I like Johnsonville best.)
- Extra soy sauce
- Cooking oil (Peanut oil for the purists—unless there’s an allergy issue, canola oil for the rest of us, but I wouldn’t use olive oil or corn oil.)
Marinade ingredients
- ¼ cup dry sherry or cooking sherry
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic or 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ginger or grated ginger root
- 1 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder (You can’t do the recipe without this. Unfortunately, every brand of Chinese 5-spice powder has a slightly different flavor. They’re all good, but I haven’t been able to find my favorite again or I would tell you which brand I prefer.)
Directions
1. About an hour ahead of time…
Cook the rice
Combine 1 cup uncooked brown rice with 2 cups water.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer.
Cover.
In 15-20 minutes the top of the rice should be about even with the top of the water.
Keep covered.
Turn off heat.
It should continue to cook for another 40 minutes, and be just about perfect.
2. While you’re waiting for the rice to cook…
Prepare the marinade
Place raw sausage in a large bowl.
Combine the marinade ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the meat.
Let it marinate until you’re ready to start cooking.
Dice the onion (if you haven’t already)
3. Stir fry
When the rice is cooked, you’re ready to start stir frying everything else
Heat the wok to high
Add some oil (maybe a tablespoon, enough to cover the cooking surface)
Remember: Hot wok, cold oil—the food won’t stick
Stir fry one half of the sausage-marinade mixture until brown (but not charred)
Remove to a clean bowl
Stir fry the second half of the sausage-marinade mixture (add oil if necessary)
Remove to the clean bowl
Add oil if needed, and stir fry onions until crispy tender
Add the cooked meat and stir fry until hot
Add the rice, stir frying until hot and thoroughly mixed
Add the corn, stir frying until mixed and hot
Remove from heat and serve
Sometimes I add additional soy sauce as I’m eating
