Fried Rice

Fried rice na jollof more expensive brother — the party rice wey you dey cook when the budget stretch small more. Where jollof dey lean on cheap tomato base, fried rice na im vegetable and add-in dey carry am: carrot, green beans, sweet corn, green pepper, liver and sometimes shrimp, each one dey push the cost up. Na why plate of fried rice almost always dey cost pass the same plate of jollof, and why the two dey share plate for party instead of to compete.

The technique different too. Dem parboil the rice and drain am dry — often cook am inside light curry-and-thyme stock for colour and scent — then stir-fry am quick with the vegetable so dem keep their crunch and colour instead of to stew soft. Diced liver or gizzard, wey you fry separately and fold in at the end, na the classic Nigerian touch. To keep the heat high and the rice small underdone before frying na the trick to avoid soggy pot.

On value, fried rice dey reward to buy vegetable in season and in bulk, since na dem be the swing cost. Big batch dey scale well for crowd and the per-plate price dey ease as you cook more, but e no go ever cheap like plain rice and stew — the vegetable and protein na the whole point. For celebration, that premium na exactly why e earn im place beside the jollof.