Mission Chinese recipe: Danny Bowien’s Fragrant Chili Fried Rice with Herbs

This sweat-inducing, spicy fried rice is inspired by a hot chicken dish Mission Chinese chef Danny Bowien loved eating at a Korean restaurant in San Francisco. His version, featured in the new cookbook, “Mission Vegan: Wildly Delicious Food For Everyone” (HarperCollins, $40), is meatless and features an intense chili sauce made from six serrano chile peppers. No joke.

When the sauce hits the hot fajita platter or cast-iron skillet, it turns an otherwise simple rice dish into a fiery, sizzling spectacle. The new cookbook also features a few dishes straight off the current Mission Chinese restaurant menu in San Francisco, including mapo tofu and tiger salad.

Fragrant Chile Fried Rice with Herbs

Serves 4

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

1⁄2 cup thinly sliced serrano chilies (about 6)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt

1⁄2 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)

DISH INGREDIENTS

1⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided use

2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic

12 drained oil-cured Calabrian chilies, stemmed and halved lengthwise

4 cups freshly cooked jasmine rice

1 tablespoon mushroom seasoning powder, available at Trader Joe’s, Target, CostPlus World Market and Amazon

1⁄2 cup red onions, sliced into 1⁄2-inch half-moons

1⁄2 cup seeded red, yellow or orange bell peppers, sliced 1⁄2-inch thick

Big handful torn mixed herbs, like basil, mint and perilla or shiso leaves

1 cup thinly sliced or crumbled roasted seaweed

DIRECTIONS

In a blender, combine all the sauce ingredients with 2 tablespoons water and blend on high speed until very smooth.

To make the dish, combine 1⁄4 cup oil and the garlic in a large skillet, set it over high heat and let it start to sizzle. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant but not colored, about 30 seconds. Stir in the Calabrian chilies and turn off the heat. Fold in the rice to coat it in the oil.

Combine the mushroom seasoning powder and 1 tablespoon warm water in a bowl and stir to dissolve, then add the mixture to the skillet. Keep folding to gently mix and eliminate any rice clumps. Turn the heat back to high and cook, stirring gently, just until hot all the way through. Turn off the heat and set the pan aside.