The best meal to cook for students during exam time

Being a student in a foreign country means that gone are the days when my mum would prepare meals for me and all I had to care about was doing well in school. Ah, good old childhood memories.

These days, with work, studies, and social life, cooking, as it is, is often difficult. When you add exams into the mix, then it becomes close to impossible for students to make decent food. In these moments, it is often advisable to turn to things that are easy to make but also healthy at the same time.

And for me, that meal is chicken fried rice.

One of the rather better things about living as students is that there is almost always leftover rice from the previous day. This is the central aspect of this dish because it requires leftover rice for the best experience

With only some of the most basic ingredients like onions, garlic, ginger, chicken, and a couple of spices, one could make the best-tasting chicken fried rice. It is also an excellent dish if you have friends at your place for a party.

In fact, just a couple of weeks ago in my dormitory flat, we had an impromptu party and when everyone was hungry and my fridge was almost empty, I just took two breast pieces, chopped everything up, and cooked the dish within 40 minutes.

I was worried that my friends might not be fond of it since I made it quickly but the looks on their faces, when they were eating the dish, betrayed my expectations. Almost every one of them wanted to know how I cooked it.

And the fun fact is that when I imparted the instruction, the look of amazement on their faces sold their inner feelings: ‘what, that’s it? Is there no secret ingredient?’

Actually, there is. It is MSG as, Uncle Rogers says, MSG makes everything better, so even if you have a spoiled kid, just sprinkle some MSG and she/he shall become better (this is obviously a stolen joke and not a piece of serious advice).

Jokes aside, with or without MSG, chicken fried rice will taste good regardless. The simplicity of the flavors of cumin and coriander combined with the sharpness of garlic and ginger elevates the taste of the chicken and, as a result, the whole dish.

And all of that, for just a little over 30 minutes and a handful of ingredients!