Fried rice, a fan favorite!

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For my money, the best fried rice comes from this Chinese cookbook. It's simple to whip up, can be tailored to your tastes with the addition of your preferred mix-ins, and has an irresistible flavor.

Excuse me, pals Today I'm revisiting the blog's archives to post one of my most-loved recipes.

Delicious fried rice I make at home is my favorite dish. ♡

While I was growing up, my family and I made it a point to eat at the best Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood every Saturday for lunch. Egg drop soup and fried rice, two of my favorite foods, were staples at my Saturday lunch table. Whenever I think of exceptional fried rice, I immediately think of this restaurant. Theirs was consistently cooked to the ideal al dente texture with slightly crispy edges, bursting with flavor, and piled high with extra vegetables, eggs, and protein of choice.

Over the course of a decade, after our favorite restaurant closed, I experimented with hundreds of pots of fried rice in an effort to duplicate the restaurant's legendary dish. Even though I still haven't found anything that comes close to the original, this fried rice recipe has become a staple in my kitchen. It comes together quickly, can be tailored to individual tastes with a variety of optional ingredients, and is incredibly satisfying in taste and texture. Tens of thousands of our readers have made and enjoyed it ever since we first published it. That being said, if you're in search of a tasty dish, I offer this one to you in the hopes that you'll find it as satisfying as I did.

Let's make some fried rice from scratch.

Recipe for Fried Rice | Quick and Easy Video

Alright, then, let's jump right into it. What follows are the most crucial lessons I've learned over time regarding the best cooked rice that has been fried

1. Use cold rice; prepare ahead of time by using cooked rice that has been thoroughly chilled. Rice that is still warm (or even just lukewarm) when it is added to a hot pan will not fry evenly and will stick together. Because of this, leftover rice stored in the fridge is the best option. Or, if you're short on time (or, for reasons I can totally relate to, experiencing an unexpected craving for fried rice), If you want to make a new batch of rice, Then, after thoroughly mixing the ingredients, spread the rice out on a baking sheet or other large flat pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or the freezer for 10-15 minutes) until it is thoroughly chilled (not frozen).

Make use of butter; yes, butter After making fried rice with a variety of oils, I've come to the conclusion that the big slab of butter used in Japanese steakhouses isn't there by accident. It gives everything a better flavor and helps it brown evenly. (However, in contrast to Japanese steakhouses, we only use 3 tablespoons for a very large batch of rice here.) )

The lack of vegetables in mediocre takeout fried rice is one of my biggest pet peeves. Adding vegetables to fried rice is a great way to boost both the flavor and the freshness of the dish. This recipe also includes both white and green onions, which were always present at our favorite Chinese restaurant. However, you can update this dish by adding other tasty stir-fried vegetables.

Use toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce for a flavorful fried rice. If you don't eat seafood, you can omit the oyster sauce without sacrificing the dish's quality. However, this component is crucial to tasty fried rice and only needs to be used sparingly. Do not be put off by the name "oyster sauce" if you are not an oyster fan. However, there is absolutely no room for negotiation when it comes to toasted sesame oil. It has the best aroma of anything I cook with and works wonders in fried rice. (Remove the pan from the heat and, since sesame oil is a finishing oil and not a cooking oil, stir it in after you've turned off the heat. )

Fifthly, cook over a very high heat; this will ensure an effective frying and browning of the rice and vegetables, and will stop the rice from steaming instead of frying.

If you, like me, prefer your rice with a bit of crunch, let it rest for a little while in between stirrings so that the bottom can brown. To prevent the rice from sticking to the pan, a nonstick skillet is essential.

7) Don't be afraid to add in some extra soy sauce at the end; I understand that people have varying salt tolerances, and that the sodium content of various brands of soy sauce can vary quite a bit. Therefore, the soy sauce in the recipe below is not quite as heavy as usual. You can always add more at the end if you like the way it tastes. Extra drizzle is something I frequently add to my serving and find to be delicious.

Ingredients for Homemade Fried Rice

Well, then, let's discuss the components. The following are the ingredients (and associated Amazon links) you'll need to make fried rice.

• Rice, white or brown, that has been cooked and chilled. Simply ensure it is cooked (I always cook mine in this rice cooker, which works like a charm) and thoroughly chilled (in a sealed container in the refrigerator) before adding it to your hot skillet. Once again, freshly cooked rice will not do well in this dish.
• Eggs, a wonderful source of protein, fat, and flavor
• I always start with carrots, onions, green onions, and peas when making fried rice, but you can use any stir-fry vegetable combination you like.
• Garlic: Freshly-minced
• To reduce the sodium content of this dish, I used low-sodium soy sauce in the creation of this recipe. Regular soy sauce should have less added to it.
• Oyster sauce is a common ingredient used to enhance the flavor of fried rice, and it doesn't taste like oysters. It's sold in the Asian section of some supermarkets, or you can get it on Amazon.  
• Must-have finishing touch for this recipe: toasted sesame oil. It's also sold on Amazon, and it's available in the Asian section of the supermarket.
• My go-to ingredient for a tasty rice stir-fry is butter.

What You Need To Know About Making Fried Rice:

This easy recipe for homemade fried rice requires only:

1. Scramble some eggs: In a large sauté pan, melt a small pat of butter and scramble some eggs, breaking them into small pieces as you go. The eggs should then be moved to a separate plate and set aside.
2. Bring your sauté pan back to heat and cook the onions, carrots, peas, and garlic until they are soft and cooked through.
3. Turn the heat up high and stir-fry some rice. Move the vegetables to one side of the pan, and then add the remaining butter, the soy sauce, the oyster sauce (if using), and the chilled rice. Then, mix in the vegetables and continue sautéing the rice, stirring every 15 to 20 seconds, for about 3 minutes, or until the rice and vegetables have taken on a golden hue.
4. Take the pan off the stove. Scrambled eggs, green onions, and sesame oil.
5. Mix and season Try a spoonful of the rice, and if it needs more salt, pepper, soy sauce, or sesame oil, add it now.
6. Serve Then, serve it up while it's still hot.

Simple Variations on Fried Rice:

You can get as creative as you like when making homemade fried rice, so feel free to incorporate whatever random ingredients you have lying around. Having said that, here are some time-honored supplements:

• For Chicken Fried Rice, you have two options: sauté some chicken in a separate pan alongside the fried rice, or add cooked chicken at the end. If you want to add it to your fried rice, shred it or dice it. Or, to save time, I'll just use a rotisserie chicken and shred it. Better yet, use the leftover baked chicken breasts from my go-to recipe and shred them.
• To make pork fried rice, sauté a boneless pork chop in a separate sauté pan alongside the fried rice. Next, chop it up and stir it into your rice.
• To make beef fried rice, brown ground beef or sauté steak in a separate pan before adding it to the fried rice. Toss the resulting bits into your rice.
• To make shrimp fried rice, sauté a half pound of raw, peeled shrimp in a separate sauté pan alongside your fried rice. The shrimp should then be added to the rice.
• You can use any vegetables that hold up well in a stir-fry for this dish. The onions, carrots, peas, and garlic can all be sautéed at the same time. Once everything is added to the fried rice, stir to combine.
• Fried rice gets a major flavor upgrade from fresh kimchi in this dish. If you want to make kimchi fried rice, all you have to do is chop some kimchi and mix it in.
• Pineapple fried rice is a fusion of Chinese and Thai cuisines, and fresh pineapple is often a staple ingredient. To combine, merely chop and toss

In addition, if you'd like to switch things up a bit, you can make:

• Use cooked brown rice instead of white rice for a more nutritious fried rice.
• What follows is my go-to recipe for quinoa fried rice.

Dishes that pair well with fried rice:

We need some ideas When I make fried rice, some of my go-to recipes are:

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Here is a tried-and-true recipe for fried rice that you can use as a starting point. It's ready in 15 minutes, can be tailored to individual tastes with a few simple tweaks, and is incredibly tasty.

• 3.0 ounces Sliced butter
• 2 Several large eggs, beaten
• 2 Diced and peeled medium carrots
• 1 diced small white onion
• 1/2 cup Peas, Frozen
• 3 garlic, minced cloves
• seasonings of table salt and black pepper
• 4 cups ready-to-eat rice (I like white rice with shorter grains)
• 3 slivered green onions
• 3 – 4 spoonfuls of soy sauce, or more to taste
• Two Tablespoons A condiment that can be added is oyster sauce.
• Approximately a Half a Teaspoon oilseeds that have been toasted in sesame oil

1. The butter should be melted in a large sauté pan* over medium heat, so start there. Scramble an egg by adding it to the pan and cooking it while stirring it occasionally. Take the egg out and put it on a separate plate.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter more in the pan. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in vegetables such as carrots, onions, peas, and garlic. Warm the oil in a skillet and sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes, or until they reach the desired tenderness. Turn up the heat to high, add the last 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter, and stir until melted. Then, mix in the soy sauce, oyster sauce (if using), green onions, and rice right away. Fry the rice for an extra three minutes, stirring occasionally. (I like to wait a little while between stirrings so the rice can get crispy on the bottom. Finally, crack in the eggs and give everything a good whisking. After taking it off the heat, stir in the sesame oil until it is evenly distributed. Adjust the flavor with more soy sauce if desired.
3. Serve right away, or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Equipment

Béarnaise of Oysters

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Salted Sesame Oil

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Stick-Free Cookware

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For this recipe, a nonstick or cast-iron sauté pan is ideal. However, you can use any pan you have; you may just need to be more diligent about stirring the rice and eggs as they cook so they don't stick.