Fried Rice and Japanese White Sauce

Fried rice and Japanese white sauce are one of my versions of fast food. Now, fried rice takes a little bit of thinking ahead, as you need leftover rice to make it (though if you were really dying to be frying rice in the next hour youcould spread some cooked rice on a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes) but once you’ve got that sticky leftover rice that always dumps out of the bowl in a big “clump”, you’re only about twenty minutes away from fried rice.

I didn’t eat Asian food in any shape, form, or fashion until I started dating Philip. I have no idea why, but I was convinced I didn’t like it. Philip got me to try Chinese at a long-closed buffet that used to be next door to T.J. Maxx, China Inn-still the best Chinese buffet where I’ve ever eaten-and Japanese hibachi chicken at Typhoon of Tokyo. I discovered that I actuallydid like Asian food, not least of all fried rice and Japanese white sauce.

Back when we were dating in the late nineties Typhoon of Tokyo was one of the few places in town that served the now ubiquitous white sauce, which someone told me that they refer to as “honey mustard”, though I’m fairly certain there’s not a drop of honey in it. Now, you can find it at every place that serve hibachi food, though Typhoon’s is still the best I’ve had by a long shot….at least, besides this recipe, which was given to me by my friend Sharon. I have tweaked the recipe, leaving out butter and adding some sriracha for heat and soy sauce to bring it closer to the flavor of Typhoon’s. You can buy white sauce-also called “Yum-Yum Sauce”-in the produce or international foods sections at the grocery store these days, but something tells me that those bottled versions don’t even begin to hold a candle to this one, which I could pretty much swim in. I am sure that there’s probably not anything Japanese about this sauce, and one of my friends told me that she has never seen this outside of the South (she now lives in California).

As for fried rice, the first couple of times I made fried rice I pretty much cried into my pan wondering why my rice sucked so badly. I went many, many years without even attempting to make fried rice again. I don’t remember what got me to try it again, but I’m glad I did. Using the right amount of oil but keeping the pan otherwise pretty dry until “flavor time” comes seemed to work well. A wok will really speed up the process, though a 12-inch skillet will get the job done just fine. I promise thatfried rice and Japanese white sauceis one of the easiest twenty-minute meals you can make (and if you need a little bit of meat, make the teriyaki chicken pictured here too!).