Fried Rice. Wow.

Stop the presses, stop your diet, stop everything and make this rice.

Before today, I had never made the same dish twice in once evening. This rice, from Mark Bittman, forced me to. Seriously, it FORCED me. I absolutely could not not eat it again. "Let's have it again tomorrow night" suggested the ever-reasonable David (who, I might add, ate this faster than I have ever seen him eat anything). But waiting was just not going to happen. I ate the last bite of the first incarnation, and immediately put the rice on to boil for the second.

I know that I'm a little (a lot) late to this party, that every blogger and home cook worth their salt (including Smitten Kitchen and Sarah) has made it and raved about it. It has been on my "to cook" list since it was published back in January. The problem: we don't have leftover rice. You see, after a childhood of watching my mom throw away half a cup of leftover rice almost every night, I was determined to always cook the exact amount of rice--to get it down to a science. And I did! Which was great for my conscience, but bad for fried rice. Finally, last night, I remembered to make a couple of extra cups of rice, specifically for this dish. And now, I will probably never make exactly enough rice again. David says that he could happily eat this every night for the rest of his life, and I'm inclined to agree.

Ginger Fried Rice (adapted from Mark Bittman)

This recipe is perfectly adaptable to any kind of rice. The first time, I used leftover brown basmati rice, and the second time I used fresh sushi rice. Mark says not to use fresh rice, that it must be day-old, but I just stuck my fresh rice, uncovered, in the freezer while the leeks softened, and it turned out just fine. I originally halved it, but, obviously, making the whole thing should be just fine for two.

1/2 cup peanut oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced ginger

Salt

2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried

4 cups day-old cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons sesame oil

4 teaspoons soy sauce.

1. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly.

2. Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons oil and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.

3. Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.

4. In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining oil, sunny-side-up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.

5. Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.