Upside Down Cake Of Rice, Meat, Veg & Fried Egg

Well, it may sound bizarre, but don’t mock it till you’ve tried it. This is a genuine “Sorlin” recipe from the landlord of the pub that used to be at the bottom of my garden in Buckinghamshire.

Most days there was a Sorlin pie, casserole, soup or, in this case, a Sorlin Surprise on his menu. The unwary stranger would look puzzled and ask what these dishes were; "it’s all in there, chum" came the reply describing these wonderful left over recipes.

This looks like a lot of work and hours of time, but believe me it is easy and in well under an hour you will serve up a real surprise dish for four hungry people.

Apart from being a treasure chest of immune and body building nutrients, it has significant amounts of nearly all the essentials.

And the nutrients are all in here too.

Ingredients
6000g/20oz cooked rice
2 small steaks, cut in slivers
2 chicken breasts, cut in slivers
2 turnips
2 carrots
½ a white cabbage
a few red lettuce leaves
1 large red onion
6 mushrooms
4 free range eggs
4 sprigs of fresh coriander
a pinch of powdered ginger
30ml/2tbspns light soy sauce
45ml/3tbspns peanut oil


Method

Peel the turnips and carrots, wipe the mushrooms
Cut them all into sticks
Finely chop the cabbage, onion, lettuce and coriander
Heat a large wok with some of the oil
Brown the meat and remove from wok
Add all the vegetables and ginger and some more oil and stir fry for about ten minutes
Add back the meat and the soy sauce to heat through
Oil four bowls and fill to about 1/3 with the mixture
Cover with the rice, tapping it all firmly down
Whilst the eggs are frying, cover each bowl with a plate, tip upside down and shake gently to free the contents
Put one egg on top of the pyramid and serve.

It is easier if you four bowls the same size. Pyrex or white mixing bowls work well, though I have some soup bowls that are just the right size.