Hello everyone, it's been quite a while since my sister and her friends had organized an outing or a get-together. So, after gradually getting back into socializing, we managed to agree to have a small lunch. After choosing what to make a few days in advance during those late-night chats that have become a daily occurrence, and consulting with my mother about the preparation, we got down to work venturing into making Chinese rice. I must say, there were a lot of rookie mistakes and a lot of laughs.
Hola a todos, desde hace un buen tiempo debo decir que no se organizaba algo para salir o una reuni贸n entre mi hermana y sus amigos, por lo que luego de retomar el tema de poco a poco ir socializando, logramos ponernos de acuerdo para hacer un peque帽o almuerzo, por lo que luego de elegir qu茅 har铆amos con d铆as de antelaci贸n en esas charlas sin luz que ya son cotidianas y consultar con mi madre lo que era la preparaci贸n, nos pusimos manos a la obra para aventurarnos en realizar un arroz chino, en el cual debo adelantar que hubo demasiadas novatadas y muchas risas.
For this, two of my sister's friends, she, and I were meeting at one of their houses鈥攁 very nice house, I must say. One of them had already cooked rice the day before, since for Chinese fried rice the rice needs to be cooked in advance. He also brought some smoked ham and, out of curiosity, a little oyster sauce. My sister and I went downtown looking for some seasonings, scallions, garlic sauce, soy sauce, something to drink, and even an avocado as a mere treat. We also met up there as a starting point for our destination, which was this friend's house. As a side note, we kept joking along the way that we were already outside his house, which was funny because then, when we actually arrived, he left us standing in the sun for quite a while.
Para esto nos reunir铆amos dos amigos de mi hermana, ella y yo, en casa de uno de estos, casa que debo decir que es muy bonita, y previamente uno de estos ya hab铆a cocinado arroz el d铆a anterior, puesto que para el arroz chino el arroz ya debe estar hecho con anterioridad, as铆 como tambi茅n llevaba algo de jam贸n ahumado y, por curiosidad, un poco de salsa de ostras. As铆 mismo, mi hermana y yo estuvimos en el centro buscando algo de ali帽os, ceboll铆n, salsa de ajo, salsa de soya, algo de tomar e incluso un aguacate como un mero antojo y tambi茅n reuni茅ndonos como punto de partida a nuestro destino, el cual era la casa de este amigo. Como dato aparte, estuvimos una que otra vez en el camino haci茅ndole la broma de que ya est谩bamos afuera de su casa, cosa que fue chistosa porque luego, cuando realmente est谩bamos, nos dej贸 un buen rato bajo el sol.
Once everything was ready, we began the process. After washing everything, we peeled and chopped the garlic and the onion separately. Interestingly, I usually wet the knife blade beforehand to avoid crying, but I'd forgotten to do it this time, which was quite funny. We also cleaned and chopped the chili peppers鈥攎ostly the young man who owned the house, as he wasn't very skilled in the kitchen. We took the opportunity to explain things to him a bit, as well as the scallions and a stalk of celery, which was also diced, along with the smoked ham. We were mostly eating it, though. Once everything was chopped, we saut茅ed the garlic in oil and then added the other seasonings to make a sort of sofrito.
Una vez todo listo, comenzamos con el proceso y, para esto, una vez lavado todo, por una parte, se pela y pica el ajo y, por otra, la cebolla. Qu茅 dato curioso, de nuevo, y es que personalmente, para no llorar, suelo mojar la hoja del cuchillo antes y, en este caso, se me hab铆a pasado, por lo que fue gracioso. As铆 mismo, limpiamos y picamos los aj铆es, esto m谩s que todo el chico due帽o de la casa, ya que 茅l no es muy diestro en la cocina, y aprovechamos a explicarle un poco, as铆 como con el ceboll铆n y una ramita de celery que estaba tambi茅n, como el jam贸n ahumado en cuadritos, aunque m谩s bien nos lo est谩bamos comiendo, por lo que, una vez todo picado, pasamos a sofre铆r el aceite con el ajo y posteriormente los dem谩s ali帽os para hacer una especie de sofrito.
The reason we added the oyster sauce was because we were curious about it, and it was the first time anyone had tried it. We carefully mixed it with the soy sauce and garlic sauce over the strong flame of the stovetop, since it was a very large kitchen and we were a little lost trying to control the heat. Then, we gradually added the smoked ham to enhance the flavor, along with the rice. We knew it wouldn't all fit in the pot, but we arranged it little by little, and one of the guys was in charge of mixing and adding more sauce until it was ready. Well, we overcooked it a bit, but that doesn't matter.
El tema de la salsa de ostras es porque le ten铆amos curiosidad y para todos era la primera vez rob谩ndola, y esta en conjunto con la salsa de soya y la de ajo la fuimos integrando con cuidado de la llama de la hornilla que estaba fuerte, pues era una cocina muy grande y est谩bamos un poco perdidos controlando la llama. Y ahora, cuando estuvo poco a poco integrando el jam贸n ahumado, para que agarre m谩s sabor y as铆 mismo el arroz. Aqu铆 sab铆amos que no cabr铆a todo en la olla, pero poco a poco lo acomodamos y uno de los chucos fue el encargado de mezclar y colocar m谩s salsa hasta que ya estuvo listo. Bueno, aunque se nos pas贸 un poquito, eso no importa.
Once the avocado was chopped and the drinks were served along with some nice, generous plates, we sat down and enjoyed our rice, which, for our first time making it, was delicious. As for the salt, it was a bit of a mixed bag, with two of us preferring more salt and two of us less, but it was still great to spend some time cooking together and bonding so well. There were also a few jokes that came up, which kept us laughing for a while, and one of the guys and I even had seconds. We're already planning more get-togethers like this, as it was so much fun. So, without further ado, and hoping you enjoyed it, thank you so much for reading.
Picado el aguacate y servidas las bebidas junto con unos buenos y generosos platos, ya nos sentamos y disfrutamos de nuestro arroz, que, para ser el primero que nos aventuramos a hacer, estuvo muy rico. Con respecto a la sal, estuvo dividida, pues dos del grupo comen con m谩s sal y dos comemos con menos, pero aun as铆 fue bastante bueno el convivir un rato de cocina y que nos integr谩ramos tan bien, as铆 como tambi茅n una que otra broma que surgi贸 y que hizo que estuvi茅ramos riendo un buen rato e incluso uno de los chicos y yo repetimos porci贸n. Aun as铆, tenemos en mente hacer m谩s reuniones as铆, ya que fue divertido y, pues, sin m谩s, y esperando sea de su agrado, muchas gracias por leer.
