If you are part of, or live with, a family whose main food is rice then you can expect to have days where you have leftover rice and not much to do with it.

There are the usual things you can do with rice: stir-fry it, add it to soup, season it, mix with frozen veggies and an egg, etc.  Having exhausted all of those options in the recent past (okay, okay, I am asian), it was time for some new ideas.

Improvising in the kitchen does not mean your dish have to win awards; it just needs to be filling, tasty, and satisfies the new food chart which can be found here.

This makes so much more sense than the food pyramid.

So what was around the house?  A can of Campbell’s Chunky Chili (Roadhouse), onions, leftover rice (as mentioned earlier), and some seasoning.

To prepare, I recommend chopping your onions ahead of time and adding water to your old rice.  The water will keep the rice from burning.

Standby!

First, I bring the rice to a boil.  Watch out, depending on how much rice you are using it can boil pretty fast.

What can I say? It's leftover rice.

Once that is ready, add in the can of Chunky Chili.

Getting there...

At this point I realize that the can of Chunky Chili comes with enough seasoning and flavoring as it is.  No need to over do it.  So, add your onions at this point.

Deploy!

Let it cook for a few minutes, then lower your heat to a simmer.  Simmering allows the rice to absorb the liquid from the Chunky Chili.  Although, having the rice soak in water beforehand probably make that process less-effective.   I let the mix like that for about ten minutes before serving.

Lookin' good.

The next step is pretty self-explanatory: eat!

Huzzah!

In the end, the mix works.  It wasn’t award winning but it’s a nice balance between canned, leftover, and fresh produce.

Don’t judge me.

A while ago, we mentioned “Mai” Sushi on 16 East 41st Street near Bryant Park and the Manhattan Public Library (see the old article here).  Amusingly, “Mai” Sushi is one of three Japanese cuisine establishments inside 50 yards of each other.  One of the other ones is called “Cafe Zaiya”.

We have no idea what "Zaiya" means.

Unlike its neighbor, “Cafe Zaiya” is setup into four sections.  There is your main sitdown area, a baked goods section, a coffee/specialty drinks section, and a hot food section.  Between those areas are freezers/open refrigerators with bento boxes and sushi.  Much to this reviewer’s delight, the sushi was softer and more moist than the ones at “Mai” Sushi.

Specials!

Today’s special is Fried Shrimp Curry with salad.  They do offer other combos but that is for some other time.

The ordering process is rather unique.  You pay for your lunch at one of four cashiers and if you order some hot food, they give you a numbered slip.  In a few minutes, someone would emerge from the kitchen with your order and asking for your number.

What was lacking are drink options.  They do have the mentioned specialty drinks area but that’s more for coffee and tea. There is a barrel of ice filled with aloe and tea drinks.

Nom. They also put a "Paid" sticker on your drink.

For today, we picked up the Fried Shrimp Curry, a batch of California Rolls, and an aloe drink.  The total came out to $14.22 after tax.  The curry had a nice spice to it which went well with the white rice.  The fried shrimp was delicious too.  As for the California rolls, they were decent.  The main disappointment is the salad which was only one tomato cherry, five leaves of lettuce, some diced onions, and a few teaspoons of salad dressing.

Overall, it was pleasant if you don’t mind the unusual ordering system and the price.

‘Til next time!