While on my fourth year as a USAF photog, I was stationed in Thailand. Taught to make Thai fried rice (and noodle soup) by a lady who had a "restaurant" on base. The Thai on-base workers were her primary customers, most of the military folks wouldn't frequent the place for fear of (insert xenophobic reason here) silliness. I ate lunch there daily, would wolf down a bowl of her noodle soup or fried rice and she would just grin and offer more. After a month or so, she would show me her methods and ingredients, making the recipes to suit the workers' taste: spicy-hot, "pet mach" in Thai. And given the chance I'd eat my way across Thailand today.
Learned to use chopsticks there, can clean out a bowl of fried rice with 'em down to the last kernel, too. We make it here on a regular basis. I use "Mama-san's" recipe, dice up whatever meat left over from the grill-up from last evening's meal. Substitute red pepper flakes for the Thai peppers. "Comfort food" for sure.
Lived off base, went to the local markets for food. One of the local vendor's goods: