Puerto Rican Chinese Veggie Fried Barley

Holas! A delicious vegetarian take on the classic Chinese fried rice recipe conjured up by The Queen of Healthy Latin Cooking! Hence, Puerto Rican/Chinese! What a team! I love Chinese food! I love Puerto Rican food! I LOVE ALL FOOD! Chinese-Asian is second in line for me to my Puerto Rican recipes. Second to my “other” recipes too! Everybody is so tasty! So here is my recipe. This recipe has been one I have been testing for a while. This recipe has barley. Barley is a super, super, super lovely grain. Chewy, hearty and full of fiber. I am using the barley as a substitute for white rice. You can use white or brown rice if you want to. Up to you! Let’s get started! This can serve two, but I usually eat this entire mix. It’s what I call “a one pot-papi meal.” All my carbs, proteins and fats for my dinner are in this delicious mix. This recipe has two stages. Barley first, here we go:

Ingredients

  • First stage is cooking the barley.
  • Any brand of barley is fine. Organic would be best.
  • Use ½ cup of barley to 1 ½ cups of water.
  • Add 1/8 tsp of salt or Goya Abodo
  • For color I add a few sprinkles of annatto or turmeric powder.
  • Rinse the barley, add the water and spices to a covered pot.
  • Bring the covered ingredients to a boil, then to a simmer for 30 minutes.
  • I suggest that you keep the lid on in the cooking process.
  • When done, I suggest you leave the barley covered and let stand for an hour or more.
  • It allows for a full cooking process. It allows for the barley to get soft, chewy and lovely!
  • Next step is prepping the base of this delicious Vegetarian Paradiso!

Ingredients for base

  • 2 oz of vegetarian Maywah brand beef steak, cubed (or any other veggie beef brand. Morning Star’s Riblets are kind of cool for this dish too)
  • 1 Boca brand original chicken patty, cubed (or a brand of your choice)
  • ½ cup of fresh or frozen green peas
  • ½ of large onion, or ¼ cup of scallions, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic pressed (1/2 tsp of garlic powder is fine)
  • Fresh ginger 1 tsp fresh chopped is fine or ¼ tsp of powdered ginger
  • A few dashes of white pepper
  • 10 oz. of fresh cut broccoli
  • 2 tbs. of Red Boat fish sauce
  • Cooking spray. Traders Joe’s has a coconut spray that is super, super, super cool!
  • The coconut flavor is kind of nice because it makes the dish more exotic. Like me!
  • However, any brand will do. Earth Balance cooking spray appears to be soy free. I like that.
  • Final ingredient is 1 tbs.- 2 tbs. of sesame seed oil.
  • Note about the oils and fat content
  • I use one tbs. because I supplement the remaining fat with cooking spray. The choice is up to you!

Instructions

  • We continue….
  • Now, I bring the onion, garlic and ginger to heat in a nonstick skillet with the sesame seed oil and cooking spray.
  • I sauté that a bit, then add the broccoli, peas, vegetarian chicken and beef.
  • You cook up the mixture ¾ way through over medium heat covered, turning a bit when needed for about 4 minutes. If the beef and chicken are thawed then a bit shorter. You gauge.
  • When the onion and other ingredients seem a bit “heated and cooked” you add the barley.
  • The barley may have “caked up” a bit while sitting. Break it apart before you mix it to your protein, veggies and spices.
  • Add the two tbs. of Red Boat fish sauce. Cover and simmer for about 3-5 minutes over medium heat.
  • Cook all ingredients to your desired temperature and tenderness. I like my dish cooked at high heat towards the end to char just a bit.
  • However, prepare to your liking.

Notes

I like having this with a fresh vegetable on the side. A nice citrus beverage is so cool with this! I hope you like this recipe. Thanks y que desfruta de su vida con riquesa!

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