No added sugar was definitely harder, both practically and emotionally, than no alcohol. Sugar is in everything, and monstrously difficult to avoid. James and I were both fully aware that we were doing this experiment due to a lifestyle choice, and not any essential dietary restriction, and so we were fairly flexible around the margins. We examined labels like hawks, but ultimately and mostly due to laziness, stopped short of traipsing to multiple supermarkets to buy no-added-sugar staples. So we still ate some added sugar in the form of wheat bread and mayonnaise. We also didn’t stop eating out. We really only eat out on the weekends anyway, and we tried our best, but we also ate what we wanted. We had one exceptional cheat meal where we got Japanese. I naively thought it would be okay – it was sushi! Raw fish and rice! Then we got a bunch of barbequed meat that came slathered in teriyaki sauce and eel rolls that came drenched in sweet eel sauce. Whoops. Asian food is basically all just a big added sugar no-no. Given all this, in practice we probably ate closer to an average of <5 grams added sugar per day. That’s sort of depressing, considering that we did try hard to adhere to the rules of the game.

I think that it took me a full 28 days before the sugar cravings stopped. I consistently thought of cake throughout the month – chocolate cake, lemon cake, ice cream cake… The cravings sort of ebbed and flowed, but I would say that it was only on the last Monday of January that I woke up and felt absolutely no desire to eat cake or drink a cocktail. It was only on that Monday that I felt that I could continue this no-added-sugar January for awhile longer. And I did! I didn’t eat any dessert for about 6 days in February. Then James and I went out for a celebratory dinner, I had cake, and BOOM – it was all over. I was back to salivating over cake, and it was like this past January never happened.

Okay – that last statement is a bit facetious. 20 days into February, I haven’t eaten any of those crappy supermarket cakes or chocolate candy bars that I love(d) so much. But I’m very aware that I’m just teetering on a sugary precipice, with only a few Reese’s peanut butter cups standing between current restraint and the sugary bonanza of my past life.

On a positive note, I am hoping some changes will stick quite easily. Plain yogurt tastes more palatable to me now than it did at the beginning of the month, especially with fruit. There are no-added sugar, or low-added sugar, versions of a lot of things, if you look hard enough. I found no-added-sugar museli (branded as Swiss museli – perhaps the Swiss don’t each much sugar?) with raisins that tastes a bit like horse food, but which is growing on me. I know which brands of breadcrumbs have more or less added sugar. I know which kinds of chicken broth have sugar and which do not.

In particular, the infamously sugary flavored yogurt world (some versions have 10 grams of added sugar per one serving!) has begun to catch onto the demand for low-added-sugar yogurts. James loves his coconut yogurts, and the transition from flavored to plain yogurt was especially painful for him. Not one to give up without a fight, however, he tried a lot of no-added-sugar yogurt products with gusto. There were the Siggi’s no-added-sugar yogurts, flavored with only fruit, that were good though sorely lacking on variety, with only two flavors – peach and mango and cinnamon and banana. He bought buckets of raspberries and blueberries to adorn plain yogurt. He tried an unsweetened dairy free yogurt made with soy milk that tasted like cardboard paste. He found a yogurt smoothie drink that boasted no added sugar, but still contained concentrated apple and mango puree (which are still added sugars!), and that, despite the fruit concentrate, still managed to taste like powdery vitamin-y liquid chemicals. In the end, the Siggi’s no-added-sugar yogurts have become a good staple, along with Chobani and Fage less-sugar-added yogurts, which have a bit of added sugar, but also a lot more variety of flavors.

This no-added-sugar diet is expensive! James and I have taken to replacing our calories from sugar with calories from nuts, and while this change is a healthy one, it is also a more expensive one. I don’t think I quite realized before how much of my diet consisted of cheap sugar fillers until now. Before, if I was still hungry after dinner, I’d just eat a couple of cookies, or a candy bar. At most expense, I would eat a fancy Magnum ice cream bar. However, even those fancy ice cream bars, which were frequently on sale, were less expensive than nuts, which were never on sale. Eating healthfully is truly a privilege that is unequally distributed among socioeconomic classes.

In conclusion, ascetic January was a success. There are changes which I hope will permanently stick – plain yogurt instead of flavored yogurt, unsweetened or low-sweetened granola. I am hoping to cut down on candy bars and sugary impulse buys.

And now, the dish of the month! A deeply flavorful, herby, fresh spin on chicken and rice that includes absolutely no added sugar! This dish is delicious, and an absolute staple in our household. I make it often, and it never disappoints. It does take a bit of time, unfortunately, but much of it is inactive. The time is worth it, and you can easily scale this recipe up for more leftovers (which just get better with time!). A few notes:

• The recipe calls for chicken thighs, which lend additional flavor and fat to the rice. However, when I made it this time, I actually ran out of thighs and mixed in some boneless skinless chicken breast. The breast worked okay, although it was a bit dry. I would definitely stick with thighs next time, or at least use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. If you’re stuck up a creek and using skinless breasts, be a little more liberal with the olive oil as you’re searing the chicken.
• I pretty much tripled the amount of herbs added at the end, because I love the freshness and lightness they give the dish. I ended up tossing in whole handfuls of parsley, dill, and especially cilantro, which I love. The quantity increases are reflected in the recipe that I’ve provided, but don’t be afraid to taste and add to your liking. The herbs perfectly complement the heartiness and richness of the rest of the dish.
• The raisins are my own substitution, since I’m lazy and have never sourced barberries or currants. If you use them, please let me know what I’m missing! I like the raisins and the slight sweetness they give the dish. You could omit entirely, but I think the raisins add a nice depth of flavor.

Fried rice is my comfort food, my heritage. I grew up eating egg fried rice for breakfast, which my mom would make frying up leftover white rice with heavily seasoned scrambled eggs and a handful of bright green scallions. I still remember waking up for school, hearing the sizzle of rice meeting hot oil, smelling the fragrant odors wafting from the kitchen, and eating the piping hot bowl at the kitchen table while watching my mom prepare my lunch.

Nowadays, my fried rice recipe has evolved a bit, but not much. It’s still easy to throw together, uses up any leftover vegetables you might have, and extremely forgiving. The marinade is all James, and adds a delightful, complex flavor to the meat and the rice. Secretly, I think James makes this fried rice better than me.

Now, let’s talk ingredients. If you scroll down to the recipe, you’ll see that I tell you to include a generic “2 cups of vegetables.” Is that exasperating? Please hear me out. The truth is, when I first sat down to write this recipe, it was hard! We never measure the vegetables, and we often end up using whatever looks fresh at the market or whatever’s left in the fridge. So I thought about what ingredients we both liked the most, and most frequently include. The original recipe, instead of the 2 cups of vegetables, consisted of a 1/2 pound of snow peas or sugar snap peas (or 1 cup fresh or frozen peas), 1 (8-ounce) can of bamboo shoots, and 1 (8-ounce) can of water chestnuts. However, I sat on this recipe for a long time because it didn’t feel truthful. These might be the most common vegetables we put in, but they appear in this exact combination maybe 20% of the time. The other 80% of the time, we forget water chestnuts at the store, we forget the bamboo even though they’re right there on the counter, and we have bell peppers and baby carrots that have been hanging around in the fridge foreeeeever… and so you get what you see in the pictures. Honestly, James and I make this fried rice differently almost every single time.

So then I realized – and this is a revelation I had on the bus coming home from work – why hide the exciting and empowering possibility of an eminently modifiable recipe? And who am I to dampen your creativity and your own preferences? Thus the “2 cups of vegetables,” and I think that the way it’s written now feels a lot more honest, a lot more truthful to my process. By now, James and I have made fried rice every which way – with the peas, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts described above, with the diced bell peppers and carrots shown in the photos, or in combination with many, many other things – diced zucchini, chopped broccoli, corn, green onions. And it’s come out delicious every single time. (The onion – I kept in. Because onions are magical)

So don’t be afraid to experiment! You can also try it with beef instead of chicken. You can substitute tofu for a vegetarian option – still marinade it the same way, but leave out the fish sauce (Don’t forget to press and drain the tofu first to get rid of excess moisture!). If you’re using vegetables of different hardiness and cook times (for example carrots and bell peppers), add the hardier vegetable such as the carrot first, cook for two minutes or so, then add the other vegetable. Quantities are also not set in stone – don’t worry if you’re a bit low on vegetables, or have too much chicken. It will all come together in the end, as fried rice invariably, inevitably, uniquely does. And then let me know what you did in the comments!

A note about Shaoxing wine: it is a rice wine with a translucent amber color, made from fermented rice. It contains anywhere from 15-20% alcohol, and has a complex flavor that’s slightly sweet, spicy, and nutty. It can be drunk as a beverage – try some! Mostly, though, I use it to flavor the protein in everything Chinese I make (and probably some non-Chinese dishes too) – most often in marinades, or if I get lazy, I just add a splash of it when I’m sautéing chicken or beef. Like using red or white wine in cooking, Shaoxing wine adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the resulting dish. You can buy Shaoxing wine in any Asian supermarket, and I really hope you’ll seek some out! It’s not expensive, will last many months, and really does make a difference in Chinese cooking. There are lots of varieties, most of which are probably fairly similar. However, DO NOT buy Shaoxing “cooking wine” (like how you shouldn’t buy any other “cooking wines” to cook with either) or any Shaoxing wine that contains salt – these will be inferior, low-grade versions that taste terrible. If you can’t find Shaoxing wine, dry sherry makes the closest substitute.

As a final note, this makes an incredible amount of fried rice. We eat it with a side vegetable – some sautéed Napa cabbage or spinach, and the rice will last at least six meals. If that’s too much for you, just halve the recipe. If you do find yourself a bit short on chicken (or whatever your chosen protein is), still use all of the quantities specified in the marinade, as all that sauce will help season the final dish.

We served this with a side of sauteed Napa cabbage, and it was warm enough to eat dinner outside on the patio! A win for my sunshine-starved self AND for getting one photo in the last rays of natural light!

Total time for dinner: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings	Fuss Factor	Total Time	Prep Time	Cook Time
6	3	1 hour	30 minutes	30 minutes

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Chicken and Shrimp Fried Rice

Ingredients

Fried Rice:

• 1 pound chicken breast or boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3/4 pound shrimp, rinsed, peeled, and deveined
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp minced or finely chopped ginger
• 1 onion, chopped
• About 2 cups vegetables of your choice, cleaned, trimmed, and diced or cut into bite-sized pieces
• 6-7 eggs, scrambled
• 5 cups cooked white rice
• Vegetable or canola oil
• Salt and black pepper

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Black pepper
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

• Marinade the chicken: Cut the chicken against the grain into flat, thin strips and mix with all of the marinade ingredients. Let sit while you prep the vegetables and scramble the eggs, or at least 15 minutes.
• Put 1-2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil into a large frying pan, skillet, or wok (make sure it is at least 4 quarts to fit all the ingredients! You can even use a Dutch oven) and heat over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger. Cook for about 30 seconds until the garlic and ginger are fragrant. Add the chicken to the pan with all of the marinade sauce. Cook, stirring, until chicken is cooked through, about 7 minutes.
• Remove the chicken and all the juices from the pan and set aside. Tip: keep the chicken in a large bowl, so that you can add the other cooked ingredients to this bowl later. 
• Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil over medium heat in the pan. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp is just pink and cooked, about 2-4 minutes, depending on shrimp size. Transfer to the chicken bowl.
• Add 1-2 tbsp more oil to the pan. Don’t worry if there’s chicken or shrimp bits stuck onto the pan. The moisture from the onions and vegetables will deglaze the pan. Add the onion, some salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables, staggering them in 1-2 minute intervals if some are hardier than others. Cook until vegetables are tender, then scoop up vegetables and set aside. You can place them in the same bowl as the chicken and shrimp. I do this, and then try to toss the shrimp up so that they’re not cooking under the hot vegetables. It seems to work okay, and doesn’t result in overcooked shrimp. If you’re worried, use a separate bowl for the vegetables or the shrimp.
• Cook the eggs. If the pan you’re working with isn’t non-stick, I would use a separate nonstick pan to cook the eggs. You’ll have an additional pan to wash up, but it’s just easier and less fuss. Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in the pan over medium-high heat, then add the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Scramble until the eggs are cooked, then transfer to the bowl with the chicken and vegetable mixture. 
• In the original pan, heat 1-2 tbsp of oil over medium heat, and add the rice. Season with a few dashes of soy sauce – just swirl it loosely over the rice like you would drizzle chocolate sauce on ice cream. Toss so that all the rice is seasoned. The rice might sizzle and stick to the bottom of the pan – don’t worry! Just continue to toss and fry with the soy sauce, so that the rice itself acquires some seasoning. You’ll add the other ingredients soon enough, and the chicken and vegetable juices will magically mix with the rice to make an amazingly flavorful combination.
• Add the chicken, shrimp, vegetables, and egg into the pan with the rice, and turn heat down to medium-low. Toss well to combine. Taste and add more salt, pepper, or soy sauce if needed. I like to finish my fried rice with lots of dashes of white pepper and a drizzle of fish sauce and sesame oil (again, a light drizzle, like topping ice cream), but this is optional. The sesame oil will give it a nice earthy, umami taste. The fish sauce – although it smells terribly fishy – actually adds a nice tang and saltiness to the resulting dish. White pepper is my absolute all time favorite pepper. Feel free to scoop out a small bit of rice and experiment with seasonings!

Notes:

I tend to prefer short grain rice in my fried rice, because I like my fried rice on the dense and chewy side, but if you want a fluffier, lighter rice dish, you can easily substitute basmati.

About salting and oil: yes, the instructions are correct! A lot of salt and a lot of oil are what make restaurant fried rice so darn good. Be sure to salt all of the ingredients as you cook them. It’ll draw out the flavors of the individual ingredients, and make the finished product that much tastier. Same with the oil – yes, it’ll feel like you’re using a lot of oil, but remember that this makes an enormous amount of fried rice. The finished product won’t be too oily, I promise. The more oil you add, the more decadent and “fried” your resulting dish will taste.

About cooking the ingredients separately: Yes, it’s a pain, but doesn’t really take that much additional time, and doesn’t add too much to the dirty dish count, as you can spoon up all your cooked ingredients into one large bowl. If you’re feeling lazy, you can cook the chicken and shrimp together (add the shrimp after the chicken has been cooking for about five minutes), although this always runs the risk of overcooking the shrimp.

Whew, there’s a lot of pressure for a first post! Which is why I’m turning to the tried-and-true, classic, utterly foolproof Melissa Clark for some support. I love the New York Times Cooking section, but Melissa Clark is always dependable, relatable, and makes the most approachable videos. This particular chicken dish is bright, salty, flavorful, and oh so easy. It takes a bit of time with the cooking, but it’s mostly dead time waiting for the chicken to brown / cook, etc., and the food prep is minimal. The anchovies are magical, adding a umami, robust flavor to the dish – do not skip them! They don’t make the resulting dish taste fishy at all. Also, if you happen to have a can of sardines in your cupboard and are wondering whether sardines and anchovies are similar and you can substitute them… they’re not. You can’t.

I doubled the recipe for leftovers and also because I conveniently had 10 anchovy fillets in my tin. The recipe calls for chicken thighs, but Melissa Clark says you can substitute breasts (and subtract 3 minutes off the final cooking time). I also imagine it would be delicious with drumsticks or even whole chicken wings as well. I also coarsely chop the garlic because I like eating roasted garlic pieces with my chicken, but if you don’t particularly care either way, you can just leave them smashed and it’s even less food prep.

When you’re done and the kitchen is fragrant with garlic and lemon, please serve this with crusty bread, buttery noodles, rice, or some other mild carb to soak up all that delicious sauce. You will have a lot of it, and trust me – none of it should be wasted! We ate it with basmati rice and roasted vegetables. You’ll have time to prep and cook some simple sides such as these while the chicken is cooking, and should be able to get a balanced, restaurant-worthy dinner on the table in under an hour. This chicken is definitely a weeknight staple in our household!

Servings	Fuss Factor	Total Time	Prep Time	Cook Time
4-6	2-3*	50 minutes	25 minutes**	25 minutes

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Garlicky Chicken with Lemon Anchovy Sauce

Adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients

• 2 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed, and coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 10 anchovy fillets
• 4 tablespoons drained capers, patted dry
• Crushed red pepper
• 2 lemons, juiced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh chopped parsley, for serving

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350°F. Season the chicken thighs liberally with salt and pepper and let rest. Mince two of the garlic cloves and set aside. In a large, ovenproof skillet (I used a 12-inch cast iron pan) over medium-high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the remaining 10 chopped (or smashed) garlic cloves, anchovies, capers, and a couple of dashes of crushed red pepper. Let cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the anchovies, until the garlic browns around the edges and the anchovies dissolve, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken thighs to the pan and cook until nicely browned on one side, about 7 minutes. Don’t worry - you won't burn the garlic. The chicken will release juices as it hits the hot pan and sort of braise all the aromatics you’ve just fried in the oil. Flip the thighs, place the pan in the oven and cook about another 7-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. You can check doneness with a meat thermometer - the thickest part of the thigh should read 165°F. Don't worry if your chicken still looks a bit pink - thighs can look pinkish, especially near the bone, even when cooked.
• When the chicken is done, take the skillet out of the oven and transfer the thighs to another plate. Heat the skillet and its juices over medium heat and add the minced garlic and half the lemon juice. The juices should begin to simmer – cook for about 30 seconds, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to the pan and cook it in the sauce for about another 30 seconds.
• Drizzle the remaining lemon juice over the chicken and garnish with a handful of chopped parsley. It makes a beautiful dish served straight from the pan!  

Final Notes:

*Longish cook time, but much of that is dead time

**This is what my timer said, but I have no idea why it was so long. Maybe I was fussing around with my whole extra pound of chicken (see below)! I’ll update if necessary once I’ve made this dish again. Because I will be making it again. And again and again and again!

Eagle eyed readers will ask – why is there so much chicken in your pictures?? I confess – I completely goofed, and accidentally added a whole extra pound of chicken – that is, in addition to the quantity specified after doubling the original recipe. What can I say – somehow, I thought that 3.5 = 2.5??? Anyway, it still came out delicious. The chicken was a bit blander and the juices more watery and so the whole dish wasn’t as rich, but the flavor that was there was still great. So don’t worry – even if you’re as absentminded as I am, this recipe is utterly forgiving.

Made this? Have some feedback? Let me know! Leave a comment below, or tag #trialbyfryer on Instagram. Happy cooking!