Homemade Fried Rice
Weather: 60 degrees, sunny
What I’m listening to: Just Give Me a Reason, Pink & Nate Ruess
Lots of people give up trying to make take-out-style fried rice at home because their attempts yield a mushy gloppy brownish mess of something that used to resemble rice. The trick to restaurant quality fried rice is to use cold leftover rice. Next time you steam rice, make double, and put half of it in the refrigerator. The next night, make this fried rice recipe. Trust me.
Once you have the method down, you can play around with this extremely versatile recipe, adding whatever seasonal vegetables you have on hand along with your favorite proteins (like shrimp, chicken, or pork; in the version pictured I used bacon. Yum!). Play around with it. It’s quick, easy, and delicious.
Homemade Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups leftover steamed rice chilled through (day-old is perfect)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- ⅓ cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup frozen peas and carrots
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or to taste
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions thinly sliced
Optional
- ½ cup cooked protein like chicken, pork, or shrimp
- a little grated fresh ginger
Instructions
- Heat sesame oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions, garlic, peas and carrots, stir frying until veggies are tender.
- Crack the eggs into the pan and stir, scrambling them into the vegetables. When eggs are cooked, add the cold rice, soy sauce, and protein of choice (if using). Stir until heated through and well combined.
- Sprinkle with green onions, taste for seasoning, adding more soy sauce (or salt) as needed, and serve.
I learned that trick about he cold rice from Jaden at Jadens Steamy Kitchen. It’s a great tip! I love me some fried rice. I like mine with lap cheung the chinese sausage. YuM!
ghenne Awesome! that sounds delicious! 🙂
I don’t put it in the fridge. I live it out over night covered and it dries up without the moisture from the fridge. Your right though about day old rice, it works wonders! Love mine with pork tenderloin and pineapple.
Mooshu Jenne Great tips! Sounds amazing. Thanks!
You’re so right about the cold rice thing – I tried so many times using warm rice and it just never turned out right!
This may be a stupid question, but what type of rice? I love Jasmine rice…is that ok?
@David Webb I love Jasmine rice, too! Typically, medium or long grain rice is used for Chinese food, but I don’t see why you couldn’t use Jasmine instead. I’ve also heard that it works with brown rice, but I haven’t tried it. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
I love some fried rice. I usually use brown rice to make it a little healthier; I can’t tell a difference myself. I hope everythings going well up in Alaska! I’d love to go.
I can never find just frozen peas and carrots. Where are you finding these?
@Camille Hmm, I typically find them in the freezer section between the peas and the mixed veggies. Last time I made this I just used mixed veggies because I was all out of peas and carrots. Hope this helps!
alaskafromscratchMy grocery store FINALLY restocked their frozen veggies. I stocked up on this trip. Thanks for the reply!
@Camille Honestly that’s brutal-we’d freak out if we didn’t have them fresh, but not having them frozen just seems strange!
When cooking the egg I mix it with a tsp of sugar and a couple drops of sot sauce. I then scramble them in the sesame oil in the middle of the vegetables. I learner this in a Chinese cooking class.