What is fried rice?  It’s essentially a dish made of yesterday’s leftovers. What makes a great fried rice?  Quality leftover rice.  The return of Twin Peaks and the newly restored The Last Emperor 3D are delicious fried rice for the screen.  Great material rehashed from yesteryear to feed a new generation.  I am excited to take my daughters to see The Last Emperor 3D this Saturday at the Castro Theater.  I am usually afraid of seeing myself on screen, and premieres are excruciating to sit through.  I never see what I have accomplished; I only see what could’ve been done better.  But The Last Emperor was made 28 years ago.  That young lady who played the Empress couldn’t disappoint me even if she tried.  If anything I wonder if she would be disappointed in me, wearing an apron, as an “indentured servant” to my children.

During the filming of the the Forbidden City, the entire place was closed to the public. It was lovely to stroll around the 178-acre walled city as if we owned it.

With John Lone, Mme. Pompidou and Bertolucci at the French opening of The Last Emperor

With Chinese President Li Xian Nian at the French opening of The Last Emperor.

In the spirit of giving old things new life, I made a tropical fried rice for dinner. Since I made fried rice hundreds of times, I usually improvise.  Today, I loosely followed the recipe from damndelicious.net.

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (I used 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated (I used red bell pepper)
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 cups diced pineapple, canned or fresh (I used a ripe pineapple)
• 1/2 cup diced ham (I used extra firm tofu for the girls and left over pork for Peter and me)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• I added a 1/3 teaspoon Mae Ploy yellow curry paste, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and 2 eggs
• In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger powder and white pepper; set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion to the skillet, and cook, stirring often, until onions have become translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in carrots, corn and peas, (eggs) and cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes.
• Stir in rice, pineapple, ham, green onions and soy sauce mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 minutes.