Many people are surprised that authentic Chinese fried rice is actually made with leftover rice.
That’s right – leftover rice.
Day old rice that has been refrigerated will fry up nicely into a mixture that is light and tasty.
You would think it would be best to make any recipe with ingredients that are freshly prepared but not fried rice. Newly boiled rice is quite sticky and just doesn’t fry up as well as rice that is a day old. Believe me – I have tried it. It becomes a gloopy mess. Make the rice the night before and when it it cooked and cooled just stick it in the refrigerator to be used the next day.
Add just a few simple ingredients to create a delicious rice side dish.
You can actually make this into a one pan meal quite nicely. Just add more vegetables and protein (meat or shrimp) to create a well rounded meal all in one pan.
Fried rice doesn’t have to just be served with Asian or Chinese recipes. You can serve it as a side dish with chicken, grilled shrimp, fried fish – a wide assortment of dinner recipes.
Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cups boiled rice, ideally 1 day old
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup peas, frozen
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pork, cooked, or chicken, beef or ham, cut into small strips, or 1 cup cooked shrimp,diced (optional)
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Chinese parsley leaves, minced, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the rice, break apart the clumps and stir until it is hot and golden. Add the scallions, salt, peas and meat or shrimp. When the ingredients are well mixed and heated, make a hollow in the center of the rice. Break the eggs into the hollow and scramble them until they are semi-cooked. Then stir them into the rice mixture. Add the soy sauce and stir to coat.
- Sprinkle with parsley leaves to serve. (Optional)
Nutrition
Tips:
- This recipe is always best when it is made with leftover rice. The rice should be a day old. In a pinch you can boil the rice in the morning and use it for dinner, but it may not be as good as using day old rice. Newly boiled rice is more sticky and won’t fry up to the texture we are used to.
- Other suggestions for vegetables that you can add include corn kernels, chopped steamed bok choy, or finely chopped cooked carrots.
- This recipe is gluten free if you make sure your soy sauce is gluten free. Some are not, so it is best to check if you need things to be gluten free.
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If you prefer noodles to fried rice, have a look at our Asian noodles recipe.
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