Vegetarian Treasure Fried rice 什锦蔬菜多宝炒饭

Do you ask for a box to pack leftover (untouched) steamed rice when you dine out? Do you?

Do I? (Answer at end of post)

So close to naming this Eight-Treasure Rice 八宝饭 but aromatics such as onions, ginger and garlic won't be considered as the "treasure" ingredients though without them, I am sure fried rice would be much less fragrant and delicious.


So there are no eight ingredients and you can add other ingredients such as mushrooms, sweet peas, other veggies and even meat! But these ingredients - carrots, collard greens, broccoli, corn kernels, and cooked chestnuts speak flavors, colors and most importantly, "convenience" as it's making do with what's in the fridge one fine day. Even the steamed rice is leftover (read below) from previous day's lunch at a Korean restaurant. This Treasure Rice 多宝饭/ 什锦蔬菜炒饭 - as appropriately named now, is also vegetarian and is rest-assured tasty (thanks to the aromatics).

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Chestnuts Chicken with Five-Spice 五香栗子焖鸡

My first attempt of roasting chestnuts was not very successful as I did not manage to get whole chestnuts from the shell after they were roasted (cooked). As the chestnuts were already crumbled bits after I shell them, it became part of the inspiration of this Chestnuts Chicken with Five-Spice 五香栗子焖鸡.


These crumbled disintegrated chestnuts shall be like potato, to naturally.thicken up the gravy of this dish.

However, the flavor that these chestnuts impart to the dish, is unlike potato. Very different in fact. The flavors were generally balanced with sweetness from the carrots and caramelized shallots, fusing into savory soy-based sauce spiked with cloves, star anise and five-spice powder; and the chestnuts lending nutty sweet notes to the entire dish.


Imperfections can turn perfect sometimes, isn't it? The bite-size chestnuts actually render the sauce/gravy more perfect in terms of consistency and flavors. Together with the soft-tender carrots and peas, the bite-size chestnuts absolutely fitted in harmonizing in textures.

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Chestnuts 栗子, nutrition and benefits

Chestnuts 栗子 are good sources of Vitamin B1, B2 - with sources claiming that Vitamin B2 in chestnuts is 4x more then rice.

Slit a cross "X" before roasting in the oven

Chestnuts also contain essential minerals such as potassium (particularly high in potassium , said to be 4x more than apples!), magnesium, iron, zinc and manganese that maintain overall health;

Considered "heaty" food plus as a good source of vitamins (B1, B2, C) and minerals, chestnuts also help to strengthen the kidney (补肾) and improve blood circulation (活血) especially beneficial in the cold weather (fall and winter) as it nourishes and balances the "yin".


The flip side of chestnuts being high in carbohydrates brings caution to those with diabetic conditions, so, do not overindulge.

If you are thinking of buying raw whole chestnuts then cook and shell them, you can check out TasteHongKong.com for cooking/shelling tips.

For the sake of experience, I did try to roast my own. BUT, I don't think I want to do it again as it takes too much time and is kinda messy if not skilful/experienced.

 Next time, I will use these vacuum-packed peeled and cooked chestnuts.




Left: whole chestnuts; right: cooked and vacuumed packed chestnuts


Tag: chestnuts

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