Hats Off To Ken Tada
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a great recipe for fried rice.
Well, sort of. I would not call it great, but it has been Ken Tada’s go-to recipe during all these many months of the coronavirus. It’s fried rice, but it’s not fancy. It’s a little more boring than basic, and so Ken likes to call his recipe “Poor Man’s Fried Rice.” I realize it’s an odd topic, but since last week was National Fried Rice Day, I thought I’d have a little fun and post my husband’s recipe today on my radio page at joniradio.org. But let me give you a little backstory.
Fried rice is a staple in any Asian family, but when Ken finished college, got a job and moved out on his own, he did not have the convenience of sitting down with his parents for dinner. He was on his own, but he really missed home. More than that, he missed his father’s fried rice. But, when you’re a bachelor, and working your first job, and getting home late from coaching football, and making do with a tiny stove in an apartment, you don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. But Ken’s hankering for his dad’s fried rice recipe drove him to the stove. But son is not like his father, and so the recipe kind of evolved. No, I think maybe it devolved, because gone were all the fancy high-end ingredients. Ken got down to the basics.
I’ve had Ken’s fried rice more than a few times over the last few months, and, true, it’s not his dad’s recipe, but some things about the fixings never change. Takeo Tada – that was my father-in-law’s name – Mr. Tada’s fried rice always started with “Botan Brand U.S. No. 1 Extra Fancy Calrose Rice.” And don’t do another brand. Ken’s dad was unyielding. Certain things that are Asian you just don’t compromise. So, here’s the highlights of what Ken now calls Poor Man’s Fried Rice. You get your favorite frying pan, you heat it up, you tossed in diced bacon. In his bachelor days, Ken used “Oscar Meyer” or something cheap. But nowadays, my husband insists there’s nothing like “Nueske’s” for smoked flavor. So, fry bacon until it sizzles like a campfire. Break up cooked rice with a spatula; toss it in the pan with the bacon. Add four hefty squirts of ketchup and a beaten egg. Stir in the onions and, as my husband says, keep everything moving in the frying pan so that the egg and the onion and the ketchup become friends. Then you add salt and pepper. And you know you’re done when it’s crusty and brown and greasy and it tastes great!
Well, I don’t know if it sounds good. But it might if you like things crusty, salty and greasy. And so for any of you who aren’t worrying about your cholesterol, I have posted the recipe for Poor Man’s Fried Rice on my radio page today at joniradio.org. I would have posted a photo, but you know, I looked at it, and it’s just fried rice. And I guess I’m doing all this and telling you all this, because I take my hat off to Ken Tada. During the time we’ve been sequestered, he’s been chief bottle washer and cook. Our recipes may not be fancy, but it’s the heart and commitment my husband puts into it, caring for me during this difficult season. First Peter 3 tells women to respect their husbands, and Ephesians 5 makes much of the way wives should honor their husbands, because they are the head of the family. Well, my husband Ken Tada is the head of our household, and I just want to take this moment to thank him and show him my appreciation for practicing the love of Jesus at the kitchen stove, especially when that love is crusty and salty and it tastes great.
And one more thing, we here at Joni and Friends would love to pray for you in your troubles. So, share with us your prayer need today at joniradio.org. God bless you today, and thanks for listening to Joni and Friends!
