Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories Vegan Chicken Fried Rice

I have just finished watching series one of “Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories “ . A Japanese TV series about a man his customers call “Master”. He opens his diner at midnight and cooks people comfort food on request. It has a new recipe theme every episode with typical Japanese home style food. The characters are some new and some that follow through into each episode. I love the Golden Gai type setting which really gets me reminiscing of evenings in Tokyo. I have now started watching Season 2 . The first meal Master was asked to cook was Chicken Fried Rice. I thought to myself it might be nice to try to make a few vegan versions of the meals so today I made this meal. It’s an easy one pan meal that’s quick to make with just a few basic ingredients.
The ingredients used is for one person as a main meal or two people as a side dish.

Drain a can of jackfruit and separate in half put the other half in a container for another meal ( why not try my fake crab sushi ). You can then simmer the jackfruit in hot water to make it easier to pull apart if your not able to shred it. This time I used a new brand of jackfruit that I had never tried which didn’t need any further cooking before I used it. It was by Plant pioneers available at Sainsbury’s but you can use any brand you can get as long as it’s  in water and not syrup.

Defrost a handful of frozen peas in a bowl of hot water.
Then prepare your rice. I used one cup of Japanese rice washed and rinsed with two cups of water. When I say cups it refers to the cups you get with your rice cooker. This equals around 3/4 US cup or 180ml.

Set your rice cooker to cook or cook in a pan.
While your rice is cooking chop 1/4 white onion and around 3-4 regular mushrooms and add them to a frying pan with a little coconut oil or any oil of choice. Drain your frozen peas and add those and then add your jackfruit ( chicken substitute ). Sauté these until the onion and mushroom are tender, then if your rice is cooked add your rice. Stir this through and finally add a tablespoon of tomato purée. It is normally tomato ketchup that is used so it’s up to you if you use purée or ketchup. Sauté altogether and it’s done.

I’m looking forward to seeing what other meals Master cooks up for his customers next and maybe I might try making another vegan version. I was really surprised how this simple meal could be so tasty, try making it for yourself and transport your mind to a midnight diner in Tokyo.